Body Flow
by LongHardRoadOuttaHell
Summary: When two people meet a club, but leave without getting more than each other’s first names, can they find each other again? And - if they meet again - can they make a relationship work, despite their pasts reappearing? Troyella.
1. Trailer

A/N: Okay, so here's the trailer of my new story, Body Flow

**A/N: Okay, so here's the trailer of my new story, Body Flow. It's inspired by Sneakernight by Vanessa Hudgens, but you don't need to know the song to understand the story (though you should know the song cause it's awesome!). So, here's the summary, and a short trailer, cause I don't wanna give anything too big away! Don't forget to review if you like the idea, and I should have the first chapter up before the weekend all going well!  
**

When two people meet a club, but leave without getting more than each other's first names, can they find each other again? And - if they meet again - can they make a relationship work, despite their pasts reappearing? Troyella.

**Gabriella Montez is a medical student who works hard to achieve her dream.**

"_Gabriella Montez, you got an A in the essay from last week."_

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**Troy Bolton is a gym teacher who loves everything about his job.**

"_You're the best teacher ever, Mr. Bolton!"_

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**They spend their weekends relaxing with their friends at clubs, getting lost in the rhythm of the music and dancing their stresses away.**

"_There's this new club called Silveretta, we should go there tonight."_

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**One night they spend hours dancing together, learning only the other person's name.**

"_Ella? A sexy name for a sexy girl."_

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**When they can't stop thinking about the other person, can they find their way back together?**

"_I need to find her, Chad."_

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**And when they do find the other, and reveal their feelings, will their pasts get in the way of true love?**

"_Troy, who's Lucy and why is she sending you flowers?"_

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**Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought!**


	2. The Girls

"Gabriella Montez, when are you going to be home

**A/N: Okay, here's the first chapter guys, and I wanna thank everyone who alerted, favourited, or reviewed this story, you guys rock! So things aren't going to make sense about their pasts, just yet. But it will all unravel as we go through the story. So read, and review if you liked it, cause I love getting your reviews! Thanks to Kylie who had to put up with me bugging her for her opinion on a million and one things about this chapter while she was trying to do her own writing!**

Gabriella Montez let out a sigh as she tapped her pen on her desk, trying to think of the words she needed to write to finish off her essay.

Her gaze drifted to the photograph in a frame on the corner of her desk. The woman in the photo was just a little bit older than Gabriella, and shared her dark curls and her deep brown eyes that sparkled as she looked down at the white bundles, one in each of her arms.

Gabriella sighed deeply as she took in, for the millionth time how happy her Mom looked in the picture as she held her newborn son Nathan, Gabriella twin brother and Gabriella herself. A small tear slid down Gabriella's cheek as she thought of how her Mom must've felt just six days later when Nathan died.

Gabriella got up from her desk and quickly went over to her bed, laying down on her stomach and letting the tears fall as she wondered, not for the first time, if her life could've been different if her brother hadn't of been born with a heart condition that took his life just six short days after he'd started it.

Gabriella's best friend Sharpay Evans came home from her job as a journalist for Cosmopolitan magazine and heard the crying coming from Gabriella's bedroom. Sharpay dropped her handbag onto the coffee table and hurried into her friend's bedroom, spotting the dark haired beauty shaking with sobs face down on her bed.

"Gabs." Sharpay said softly as she sat down next to Gabriella on the bed, rubbing her back gently as she tried to calm her friend down.

Eventually Gabriella's tears stopped and she rolled over slowly to look at Sharpay.

"Sorry, Shar." She whispered softly, wiping her face with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

"It's fine, doll." Sharpay said as she pulled Gabriella into a hug.

"I'm going to go have a shower and then finish up my essay." Gabriella said as she pulled away from Sharpay and wiped the last few tears off her cheeks.

"Do you want to go out for dinner tonight? After Taylor gets home?" Sharpay asked, wanting to get her friend out of the house but knowing that Gabriella needed to be up early for class, and Taylor and herself for work.

"Okay, what time is Taylor due home?" Gabriella asked as she stood up from her bed.

Sharpay got off the bed too and headed towards the door.

"About an hour, I guess? I'll leave her a message telling her we're going out for dinner and to get her behind here so we can go eat." Sharpay joked.

Gabriella giggled at Sharpay, as the blonde left the room and Gabriella gathered her stuff she needed for her shower.

Soon Gabriella stood under the hot spray of the shower, letting the water flow over her body and settle her thoughts, clearing out those of her family, and letting her essay take place back in her thoughts.

By the time Gabriella had her shower and was back in her room in her underwear and robe she had the rest of her essay planned out in her head and she just needed to sit down and put it to paper.

Just over an hour after Sharpay had found Gabriella in tears the three girls were dressed to go out to dinner at their favourite restaurant Baylor's.

"I think one of my clients is in love with me." Taylor giggled as the pair walked the short distance from their apartment to the restaurant, talking about their days.

"I bet he stalks you." Sharpay teased.

"Yeah Tay, he's probably behind us right now." Gabriella giggled, linking her arm through Taylor's.

Taylor blushed deeply. "Funny guys, but my client is, uh. A woman."

Gabriella and Sharpay howled with laughter as they continued the walk down the street until Sharpay spotted a sale sign.

"Forget dinner." She said excitedly. "There's a sale at Designer Shoe Warehouse!"

Gabriella, Sharpay and Taylor hurried into their favourite shoe shop, each of them going in a different direction to their favourite kind of shoe.

Taylor went off in search of high heels, desperate to see if the ones she'd been eyeing up were included in the sale.

Sharpay headed towards the boots, knowing she'd leave with a few new pairs because she couldn't resist a sale on boots.

And Gabriella headed towards the part of the shop were all the ballet flats were, wanting to see if they had any new colours she wanted.

Almost forty minutes later the three girls were back at the front of the shop each carrying several bags of new shoes.

"I got 3 pairs of boots." Sharpay giggled, as they left the shoe shop and continued on their journey to the restaurant.

"I found 2 new pairs of heels, and the ones I wanted were on sale so I got them too." Taylor added.

"I got four new pairs." Gabriella giggled.

"New colours?" Sharpay asked and Gabriella half shrugged.

"Another black pair and another blue pair, but a yellow pair and a dark green pair." Gabriella explained and her two friends nodded their head in understanding, knowing that Gabriella had flats of almost every colour possible.

The three were still giggling as they reached the restaurant, greeting their hostess Melody who knew the girls well as they were regulars.

"Hi girls!" Melody greeted as the three entered.

"Hey Melody!" Came the chorus of the friends.

"Your usual table? It's free." Melody offered, holding out her hands to take the bags from Gabriella, Sharpay and Taylor.

"Thanks Melody, you're a doll!" Sharpay said with a smile as they surrendered their bags over to the hostess before she led them into the restaurant and through to their usual table at the back of the restaurant.

The girls sat down with Sharpay and Taylor on one side of the table and Gabriella on the other as Melody said goodbye to the them.

They all picked up their menus, each only taking a short while to decide on what they were having since they ate at the restaurant so often they knew the menu like they had written it themselves.

"Evening, ladies." Came the voice of their favourite waiter Jonathan.

"Hey Jon." Came the chorused reply.

Jonathan took the girls' orders before leaving them to talk more about their days.

"I heard about this club that's just opened a few weekends ago, it's called Silveretta." Taylor said, excitement evident in her eyes.

"Oh I heard about it too! It's meant to be a real underground type dance club." Sharpay added. "Can we go there this weekend?"

"I'm up for it. What about you Gabs?" Taylor asked, turning her attention to the girl sitting across from her.

Gabriella was staring across the room, not paying the slightest attention to what her best friends were talking about.

Taylor and Sharpay followed her gaze to where three men were standing, talking and laughing with one another.

One was a dark man with short black hair, happy, dark eyes and a wide grin. The second was dark skinned, but not as dark as the first, and he had huge dark brown eyes and the wildest hair any of them had ever seen. The last man was the one who had captured Gabriella's attention when she had looked up and seen him already staring at her, his bright blue eyes sparkling through the dark brown hair that hung over them, a smile playing on his lips as he watched Gabriella, the smile growing wider as their eyes connected and he winked at her, causing her to blush.

Taylor and Sharpay had seen the mysterious boy wink at Gabriella and they giggled to themselves as Gabriella blushed at the attention.

"Go over and say hi!" Taylor whispered loudly.

"No!" Gabriella argued back, still not breaking eye contact with the blue eyed man.

"Gabs. Nobody gets anywhere flirting across a restaurant." Sharpay reasoned.

"I'm not flirting, Shar." Gabriella argued, finally turning back to her friends as the mystery man had left the restaurant with a small wave towards Gabriella.

"Well he's gone now." Sharpay pouted, causing Gabriella to giggle. "He had hot friends too!"

**Okay, I know it wasn't long, but it's what I was aiming for, a brief introduction.**

**Next up, we meet our favourite blue eyed boy, Troy Bolton!**


	3. The Boys

"Mom, I have to go, I have a class to teach in a few minutes

**A/N: Okay, so I'm really happy with the interest in this story so far, so here's the next chapter! I'm just gunna put a warning out now, and this goes for By The Way too, I started a second job today, so I'm going to be working like, ultra long hours, leaving at about 7am and then working up until 8 or 9 at night, so I'm going to have minimal times for writing, except on the busses between jobs, and weekends. So updates are going to be pretty slack, but I promise I'll be doing my best for you all!**

**So here's Troy's chapter, and I hope you enjoy it!**

"Mom, I have to go, I have a class to teach in a few minutes. I'll call you tonight? Okay, I love you too." Troy Bolton smiled at the conversation he'd just had with his Mom. Troy was the oldest of 7 children, and the only one not still living at home, so his Mom insisted on talking to him almost every day, to make sure he was eating, and healthy and had plenty of clean underwear and socks, despite the fact that he was 27 and hadn't lived at home for over 5 years.

Troy walked into the gym of Evergreen High School seeing his 6th period class already gathered there.

"Okay everyone, do some stretches and then in a few minutes we'll get started!" He called out, watching as most of the students started to stretch.

It was his least favourite class, a class of mixed juniors, with a group of girls who thought it was above them to do physical work unless is included shopping.

I gave them a few more seconds to start moving, but they still stood in their small group, watching the others as you would watch someone doing the chicken dance in the middle of the street.

"Girls? Are you actually going to move and warm up? Or are you going to damage your bodies when we start running?" Troy asked as he walked up to them. The girls all rolled their eyes but started stretching anyway and he walked away from them, observing the rest of the class as they all followed his instructions.

A few minutes later Troy called them all back to attention and told them the plan for the day.

"Okay guys, so next we're going to do a few laps around the gym, and then we'll have a few relays and then a free period as long as you're not sitting around gossiping. Did you hear me Tiffany? Amanda?" Troy asked, looking at two girls who were whispering at the back of the group. "Glad to get your attention back on me, so that's 4 laps around the gym, off we go!"

BODYFLOW BODYFLOW BODYFLOW BODYFLOW

Three hours later and Troy was finally leaving to go home, despite the school day ending over two hours earlier. Troy had to stay back for a meeting, and then he'd ended up shooting some hoops before realizing he had to go home, have a shower and then meet his best friends Chad Danforth and Zeke Baylor whom he was having dinner with at Zeke's restaurant.

Troy finally reached his black Audi on the far side of the teacher's car park and unlocked it before climbing inside. As he turned the key in the ignition his stereo started, playing the cd he had been listening to that morning on the drive to school.

Troy started to sing along with the music tapping along to it on his steering wheel as he got stuck in traffic.

Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit filled up his car, as his cell phone went off. Quickly turning off the stereo Troy grabbed his cell phone off his passenger seat and answered it.

"Talk to me." He said as he answered his phone in his normal fashion.

"Hey dude." Came the voice of his best friend Chad Danforth.

"Hey, what's up?" Troy asked, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him as the traffic started to move again.

"Just seeing when you're going to be home. We're meant to meet Z in an hour."

"I'm about fifteen away from home? So I'll make it in time." Troy confirmed, realizing he was a lot closer to his apartment than he'd thought.

"Okay, I'll talk you then. Laters." Chad said and then hung up his end of the phone. Troy shook his head as he tossed his phone back onto the passenger seat and switched his stereo back on.

Sometimes Troy wondered what went through his best friend's head because he was one of the oddest people Troy had ever met, but that's why they were best friends. Troy was the logical one and Chad the spontaneous one, and Zeke, their other best friend was the balanced one. Zeke could see both points of view and could always persuade the one who was in the wrong to see the right point of view.

Before he knew it Troy was pulling up to his apartment, parking in his allocated spot and getting out of the car, going around to the passenger side to grab his bag, cell phone, and some papers he had to read over the weekend. With his arms loaded up he locked his car and headed inside, up the 10th floor where he lived with Chad and Zeke in their 3 bedroom apartment.

"Hey." Chad greeted from the couch where he was watching a basketball game on the TV.

"Hey. Is Zeke home or are we meeting him at the restaurant?" Troy asked.

"He's in the shower." Chad answered, not moving his gaze away from the game on TV. Troy hurried to his bedroom, dropping his bag onto the floor and his papers onto his desk before returning to the living room and sprawling out on the couch Chad wasn't occupying to watch the game until the bathroom was free.

BODYFLOW BODYFLOW BODYFLOW BODYFLOW

"Troy, stop powdering your nose or whatever the fuck you're doing and get out the bathroom, we're ready to leave." Zeke said loudly, pounding once on the bathroom door.

Troy emerged a few seconds later shooting Zeke an angry look as he went into his bedroom to get his wallet, cell phone and put his shoes on.

"Finally!" Chad exclaimed when Troy came back out, ready to go. "I'm so starving!"

"Chad, when are you not hungry?" Troy asked as he followed his friends out of the apartment.

"Sometimes when I've just eaten heaps I'm not hungry for a little bit." Chad replied.

"That was a rhetorical question, dude." Zeke explained as he and Troy burst out laughing as they exited the apartment building and started the small walk to Zeke's restaurant.

"So how was work today?" Zeke asked Troy.

"Alright, same as normal really. Pretty much everything's the same as when we were in high school." Troy said with a laugh.

The three guys started talking about their high school days when Chad suddenly remembered the message he had to pass onto Troy.

"Oh Troy. Lucy called for you. She said you weren't picking up your cell phone and asked you to call her." Chad said, screwing up his face is disgust.

"She just doesn't get it." Troy sighed. "I don't answer her calls, I don't return her calls, or her emails, or her txts. And she just won't leave me alone. I mean, it's been two weeks since I broke up with her."

"And it's not like you didn't have a good reason. She cheated on you for like a year, dude." Chad pointed out the obvious, something he was great at.

"Thanks for the reminder, Chad." Troy said bitterly as they reached Zeke's restaurant, Baylor's.

The three went through the restaurant to the car where they each ordered a drink and went to stand just across from the bar, next to the wall by Zeke's office.

Zeke liked to just hang out at the restaurant, keeping an eye on things without actually being at work, and he usually brought either Troy or Chad, or the both of them when they didn't have any other plans.

BODYFLOW BODYFLOW BODYFLOW BODYFLOW

"Another drink?" Zeke asked after they'd been standing around talking for half an hour or so.

Troy and Chad both nodded, holding out their glasses for Zeke to take, a plus of coming to the restaurant with the owner was the free food and beverages they got.

When Zeke returned a few minutes later Troy was no longer paying attention to his two best friends, nor the beer or nachos Zeke had brought back over.

His attention was captivated by the three girls who often came to the restaurant, but one in particular. She had dark curls, a tanned complexion and the most infectious giggle that Troy thought he's recognize anywhere, and he'd been watching her the last few times he'd seen her.

But tonight was the first time the mystery girl had been watching him back, and her dark chocolate eyes were captivating Troy, making him unable to tear his gaze away from her. He winked at her and Troy saw a blush cover her cheeks as she giggled, and he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Go over and say hi." Chad said, nudging Troy.

Troy shook his head in response, knowing there was something different about this girl, something that made him not want to hurry getting to know her.

Troy watched as the dark beauty and her two friends, a bubbly blonde haired girl with a high pitched voice and a quieter dark girl with a dazzling smile talked amongst themselves as they ate their dinner.

All too soon Zeke and Chad were ready to go and Troy had to break eye contact with his mystery girl, much to the teasing of his two best friends. As Troy walked back to his apartment he wondered when he'd see the beautiful girl again, little did he know it'd be sooner than he suspected.

**A/N: Don't forget to leave me a review so I have something nice to read between the many hours of working hint hint**


	4. Passion On The Dancefloor

Gabriella waited impatiently for her best friends to finish getting ready for their night out dancing

**Okay, so here is the next chapter, it's not that long, but it serves it's purpose. The pictures to Taylor, Gabriella, Sharpay and Troy's outfits are on my profile, and you should check them out (though I'm not sure I did it right.. let me know if you can't see them). Huge thanks to Kylie for helping me find them, and then loading them to her photobucket for me!**

**You guys are like, amazing at reviewing, so keep it up, cause it gets me to write faster!**

Gabriella waited impatiently for her best friends to finish getting ready for their night out dancing. They were going to the new club that Taylor and Sharpay had talked about at the restaurant a few nights ago and Gabriella was more than eager to be going.

She'd had a stressful week at medical school, staying up late many nights to finish essays or just to go over her notes, wanting to make sure she'd absorbed every piece of information possible.

Gabriella got up off her bed and walked over to the full length mirror that was on her wall. She studied her reflection, smiling as she decided she looked good, and the clothes were practical to dance in.

Gabriella was wearing a white tank top underneath a white hoody that ended just above her pierced navel and had small, black anchors printed across it. With this she wore a pair of simple black sweatpants with white writing down one side, and these rolled up to just below her knee. On her feet she wore her favourite pair of dancing shoes, a pair of black Etnies with white laces and white around the bottom and a small cluster of coloured stars by the white-outlined E on the outside side.

Her dark curls were pulled half up, keeping them mostly out of her face, but allowing them to still fall softly down her back. Her makeup was simple and fresh, but worked perfectly with the outfit and the occasion.

Gabriella took one last look at her reflection before she headed out of her bedroom, taking a seat in the armchair in the corner of the living room to wait for Taylor and Sharpay to get ready.

A few minutes later Taylor walked out of her bedroom holding two different shoes.

"Gab, which ones?" Taylor asked.

"On the right, Tay." Gabriella answered, taking in her best friend's appearance.

Taylor was wearing an outfit quite like Gabriella's with her red zip-up-hoody ending just above her navel, like Gabriella's did, but her matching red sweatpants were full length and showed off her perfect curves which they all knew was just to tease the many guys they would be dancing with that night. The shoes Gabriella had picked for her were a pair of white and red sneakers, which were worn and slightly dirty, but would be barely visible beneath her pants anyways. Taylor's black hair was pulled up high, a few strands left out to frame her face and her makeup was barely visible, not really needed with her perfect dark complexion.

"Hurry up, blondie!" Taylor called out once she had put on her shoes and tied them up.

Sharpay came out a few seconds later and Taylor and Gabriella both rolled their eyes at the colour of Sharpay's outfit.

Sharpay was wearing, as per normal, a completely pink outfit. Each of the girls had a colour they wore the most, Gabriella's was white, which contrasted perfectly with her skin tone and dark hair, Taylor's was red, which complimented her dark skin, hair and eyes, and Sharpay was mostly seen in pink.

Tonight she was wearing a pink Baby Phat zip-up-hoody, unzipped just enough to reveal her pink sports bra, her pink sweatpants were full length, like Taylor's and fit her long, slender legs like a second skin, showing off every curve. Sharpay's shoes were of course pink, with white laces and a white strip around the bottom. All of Sharpay's clothes were from the Baby Phat brand and Gabriella rolled her eyes at her label-bashing best friend. Unlike Gabriella and Taylor, Sharpay's makeup was obvious and detailed, her eyes looking smokey and her skin slightly flushed with the blush she had applied. Her blonde hair was dead straight and hung down her back and over her shoulder, and it shone in the bright lights of the living room.

"Are we ready to go dance the night away?" Sharpay asked and Gabriella and Taylor nodded excitedly, all three knowing they'd dance until the wee hours of the morning, ridding themselves of the stress of going to medical school, being a psychiatrist and being the designer for one of the most popular labels in America, Evans Angel.

The three quickly left the apartment, hailing a cab as they walked out into the slightly cold night of the street, as they sat in the cab, driving through the streets none of them knew the life changing events that would occur that night.

"Troy, we're already in line at the club. Where the fuck are you?" Came the greeting of Chad as Troy answered his cell phone.

"Chill. I'll be there in five, I'm just leaving now." Troy explained, slipping on his shoes before grabbing his keys and leaving the apartment, getting in the elevator as Chad spoke again.

"You better hurry, dude. The chicks here are SMOKING." Chad laughed and Troy let a smile cross his face at the thought of all the "smoking" girls being in earshot of his best friend's loud voice.

"I'll see you in five, Chad." Troy said quickly, shutting his cell phone and shoving it in his pocket.

Troy ran his hand through his dark hair **(A/N: Think HSM2)** a sure sign he was nervous about the upcoming night. Troy was wearing a bright blue polo shirt that matched his eyes perfectly, and showed off his lean, muscular body, his teamed it with a pair of black Nike sweatpants and a pair of black and white Vans shoes.

Troy knew Chad and Zeke would be pushing dozens of girls his way in a bid for him to forget about Lucy, but Troy knew that wouldn't help him. He didn't need a new girlfriend to make him forget, he was managing quite well considering the situation, and he didn't want a girlfriend so soon to breaking up with his long term one.

As Troy reached the ground floor he stepped out the elevator, nodding to the doorman as he exited the building and headed up the street to the location of Silveretta, wondering how long the wait would be to get into one of the most popular clubs in L.A.

A few minutes later Chad's curly hair came into sight and Troy let out a sigh of relief, noticing him and Zeke were closer to the building than he had anticipated. Troy pushed himself through the crowd, ignoring their protests of him jumping the line reaching Chad and Zeke in only a few minutes.

"Hey dude." Chad greeted, shooting Troy his prize winning smile.

"Hey Chad, Zeke." Troy responded, nodding in Zeke's direction before speaking again. "How long have you two been waiting for?" He asked.

"About half an hour?" Chad more questioned than answered, looking to Zeke for an answer to which Zeke shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm patient, you know that. An hour barely feels like a minute to me." Zeke defended, and Chad and Troy nodded in agreement, Zeke was the most calm, patient person either of them knew, and he could wait for as long as was needed where Chad and Troy hated to wait, both of them being impatient.

"So the girls, T. What do you think of them?" Chad asked and Troy rolled his eyes, looking at the girls around him who had all heard Chad's comment and seemed to be waiting in anticipation for Troy's verdict on them.

"Chad, you know I'm not looking for a girlfriend, right?" Troy asked in a gentle voice, as if he was talking to a toddler.

"That's what you claim." Chad replied with a slight nod.

**(stops writing to watch the three HSM videos that just randomly played on Disney)**

"So that means I'm not really looking at the girls." Troy explained. "I'm here to forget the stress that is my job and to have a good time before I have to return back to work in a few days time."

"More girls for us then, right Zeke?" Chad teased, nudging Zeke who returned Chad's cheeky grin.

"Totally, Chad. You don't know what you're missing, Troy." Zeke replied with a laugh.

Troy rolled his eyes at his friends "I know all too well." Troy muttered to himself as Chad and Zeke started walking forward, leaving Troy to hurry to catch up to them as they slipped past the bouncers.

Once the three were inside Troy's eyes scanned the club, noticing it was already pretty full, despite being quite early in the night. He caught a flash of a slightly familiar head of dark curls, but Troy lost sight of them, and couldn't think of anyone with the same colour dark hair that he knew of.

Letting the image go from his mind Troy followed Chad and Zeke to the bar where they ordered their first drinks of the night, a round of beers.

They took their drinks to a table on the right side of the dance floor, watching as a few people danced to the loud music that was pumping through the speakers, waiting for the right moment to start their own dancing.

"You want another drink?" Gabriella asked her friends, raising her normally soft, sweet voice to be heard above the music playing.

"Please!" Sharpay and Taylor chorused and Gabriella nodded, getting up from the table and making her way through the crowd that had grown really large since they had arrived just over two hours ago.

The three girls had already danced for almost an hour but had stopped for drinks about fifteen minutes ago and were already quite tipsy.

Gabriella ordered three more bottles of their favourite RTD and took the bottles back to the table, handing each of her friends their favourite flavour before taking a sip of her own raspberry flavoured one, loving the feel of the cool liquid trickling down her throat.

Ten minutes later and the new bottles were sitting empty on the table.

"Dance?" Sharpay asked, a playful glint in her eyes and Taylor and Gabriella giggled, standing up with Sharpay and linking arms as they walked to the dance floor.

Gabriella, the shortest of the three immediately stood in the middle of her two friends and started moving to the music, to which Sharpay and Taylor both started moving their own bodies, brushing up against Gabriella's occasionally.

In less than a minute almost everyone in the club was watching the show by the three sultry women who were dancing suggestively enough to be tempting, but not so much that they looked like cheap sluts.

As the next song started Gabriella, Taylor and Sharpay each had a guy come up behind them and start dancing with them, leading each girl away from the other two.

Gabriella wrapped her arm up behind her and around the neck of the guy she was dancing with, bringing his head down to her ear so she could hear his panting as he kept up with the beat of the music.

"Look at that blonde chick." Zeke almost drooled as they, along with the rest of the club watched three girls dancing their hearts out on the dance floor.

"Nah, the one in the red is smoking." Chad argued, his eyes almost mesmerized by the girl's hips moving swiftly with the music.

Troy just didn't reply, his gaze was focused on the middle girl, everything about her seemed familiar, but he couldn't work out why. He knew he had to dance with her, but he couldn't go and interrupt their dance, so he vowed to dance with her as soon as possible, wanting to feel her against him, her hips grinding her body into his groin, his hands touching her bare hips and stomach.

As the song ended the three boys instantly stood up and wordlessly made their way to the dance floor, pulling a girl to them as a new song started up.

As Troy danced with a random blonde girl his eyes searched the area for the mysterious dark haired girl, barely putting in any effort as he moved to the music.

He finally spotted her, dancing with a black haired man and as the song finished Troy left the blonde girl and slipped his way over to the petite girl he'd been watching.

But as the music started another blonde girl pulled her to him, and a blonde man slipped his arms around the dark haired girl and started moving with her.

_Please don't stop the music  
Please don't stop the music_

Troy moved his dance partner closer to the dark haired girl, intent on stealing her away from her dance partner, the need to feel her against him growing, in more ways than one.

Gabriella looked up and her brown eyes immediately connected with a pair of blue eyes she knew she'd seen before. As the owner of the blue eyes winked at her Gabriella recognized him as the man from Baylor's a few days earlier.

Troy slipped his arms from the blonde's waist as he finally stood next to the dark haired girl, winking at her once again she ditched her dance partner and started grinding her body against Troy's as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body flush against his.

_It's gettin late  
I'm making my way over to my favorite place  
I gotta get my body moving shake the stress away  
I wasn't looking for nobody when you looked my way  
Possible candidate _

_Who knew  
That you'd be up in here lookin like you do  
You're makin' stayin' over here impossible  
Baby I must say your aura is incredible  
If you dont have to go don't_

Gabriella felt his heavy breath against her neck and she felt the sparks shoot through her body as he whispered in her ear.

"You're a hard person to get a dance with." He whispered huskily, his hands dipping lower on her body, caressing her thighs with his hands as Gabriella let a moan escape from her mouth, his hands causing havoc on her brain.

_Do you know what you started  
I just came here to party  
But now we're rockin on the dancefloor  
Acting naughty  
Your hands around my waist  
Just let the music play  
We're hand in hand  
Chest to chest  
And now we're face to face_

Troy heard the soft moan escape from the girl's lips and he flipped her around in his arms, lowering his eyes to hers as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her gently with him as he stepped back til his body hit the wall, his body still moving against the dark haired girls as he finally got a proper look at her face.

_I wanna take you away  
Lets escape into the music  
DJ let it play  
I just can't refuse it  
Like the way you do this  
Keep on rockin to it  
Please don't stop the  
Please don't stop the music_

Gabriella felt her breath hitch as her eyes connected with the bright blue eyes of her dance partner, though you could hardly call their movements dancing, they were more just rubbing their bodies against one anothers. Gabriella suddenly felt her back hit the wall as the man twisted their bodies and flipped them.

_Baby are you ready cause its getting close  
Don't you feel the passion ready to explode  
What goes on between us no one has to know  
This is a private show  
_

Troy lent his head down til his lips meet in a passionate kiss with the beautiful girl he had pinned against the wall. His mouth eagerly opened as Troy ran his tongue along his bottom lip, and once he had access to her he slipped his tongue in, letting it explore every crevice of her mouth, her sweet taste intoxicating him.

_  
Do you know what you started  
I just came here to party  
But now we're rockin on the dancefloor  
Acting naughty  
Your hands around my waist  
Just let the music play  
We're hand in hand  
Chest to chest  
And now we're face to face_

Gabriella moaned as his lips left hers, sucking immediately on her sweet spot, not knowing how he knew where to use his mouth. Her moan intensified as he slipped a hand into her pants, sweeping along her folds quickly before plunging a finger into her womanhood, filling Gabriella with feelings she'd never felt before.

She couldn't let him stop and she was soon begging him to keep going, her orgasm approaching faster than it ever had before. Her leg was pulled up around his waist, allowing him to slip in a second finger, tipping her over the edge, her body racking against his as she bit down hard on her lip to keep herself from screaming out.

_I wanna take you away  
Lets escape into the music  
DJ let it play  
I just can't refuse it  
Like the way you do this  
Keep on rockin to it  
Please don't stop the  
Please don't stop the  
Please don't stop the music_

_  
_Once Gabriella had come off her high her eyes meet once again with the blue ones of the mysterious, and very talented man that had her pinned to the wall still.

_Please don't stop the music  
_

"I hope you know I don't make a habit of that." She said softly as she licked her bottom lip, tasting the blood from her biting down on it.

Troy winced as he saw the disgusted face she pulled at the taste and lifted his hand to run his thumb along her bottom lip, wiping away the blood.

"I'm Troy." He said softly as he wiped the blood on his pants.

"Ella." Gabriella replied, smiling up at Troy.

**A/N: Okay, so there it is! I hope it lived up to everyone's expectations, and I know it's out of character, but this is an AU story, so it's okay! Don't forget to hit the little purple button and get me motivated!**

**In your review, let me know if you want another chapter of this night, or you want me to move on with the story!**


	5. The Night Continues

**A/N: I know this has taken forever to get out to you guys, but I've been working 50 – 60 hours a week, plus dealing with a lot of personal business and I've had no time to write.**

**I wanna thank everyone who's reviewed so far, last chapter I got 21 reviews, which breaks even with my record number for reviews, and only on the 3****rd**** chapter! It's amazing and I hope you keep it up cause I love getting the reviews!**

_Troy groaned as he felt her walls tighten around him as he pumped himself into her body._

_Their sweat covered bodies slid against one another as she called out his name, signaling to Troy that she was getting close to release and Troy lifted her legs and placed her ankles on his shoulders, allowing him to penetrate her deeper as their climaxes grew._

"_Fuck!" The dark haired girl called out as her walls gripped Troy's member tightly before her body started to shudder, waves of pleasure rolling over her, her nails digging into Troy's upper arms causing his own release._

"_Ella!" He moaned deeply, feeling his seed spurt into her body as she continued to cry out gently, slowing coming off her high._

"Dude." A loud voice drew Troy away from his thoughts and he blinked rapidly as the figure of his best friend Chad came into view.

"Uh, wh-what?" Troy stammered, shifting himself so that the bulge in his pants wouldn't be so obvious.

"Nice daydream?" Zeke laughed, causing Troy to blush.

"Fuck up, Zeke." Troy said with an eye roll.

"I think you were the one doing the fucking, Troy." Chad teased. "Who's Ella?"

"Erm. I uh. I don't know anyone called Ella." Troy lied, his eyes searching the dark room for the dark haired beauty that was on his mind.

"Whatever dude. She must be one good fuck to have you moaning her name in the middle of a crowded club." Zeke said.

"I need a drink." Troy said hurriedly as he spotted her at the bar alone.

Troy hurried over to the bar, sliding his body up behind Gabriella's and placing his hands on her bare hips, his fingers grazing her lower stomach as he did so.

"Mmm." Gabriella moaned gently at his touch, leaning back into his chest.

"I hope you don't let every guy touch you like this." Troy whispered in her ear, making Gabriella shiver as his breath tickled her.

"Only the ones who finger me before they know my name." Gabriella teased, taking her drink from the bar and turning around in Troy's arms as she smirked at him.

"So you're an expert at these things, are you?" Troy asked, cocking his head to the side as a smile identical to Gabriella's spread across his face.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Gabriella teased, pressing herself against Troy before walking off into the crowd, leaving Troy to chase after her.

**hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.**

Troy smirked as he watched Gabriella from across the room. She wasn't paying any attention to the man behind her, grinding himself against her ass just as Troy wasn't paying any attention to the blonde in front of him who he was grinding himself against. They had started a silent competition with neither wanting to be the one to approach the other, and both were determined to lure the other to them.

Troy wondered how he could feel the way he did about a girl he'd met a few short hours ago and he knew nothing about besides her name and the fact that she could make him completely hard with just the way her body moved.

Gabriella wondered how a guy she barely even knew had thrown her off her normal guard. She usually would let guys touch a little as she danced with them, but it had been over 5 years since she'd let a guy touch her in the way she had let Troy earlier.

Gabriella was brought from her thoughts as the song changed and she felt a different pair of arms snake around her waist. She knew from the touch that it wasn't Troy, but she desperately looked over to the spot she'd last seen him dancing, hoping he wasn't there so she could have a glimpse of hope that he'd given in and was dancing with her.

But Gabriella's dark eyes locked with the familiar bright blues and she felt her heart drop, suddenly not wanting to dance anymore.

She twisted herself out of the grasp her dance partner had on her and stalked back to the table where Taylor and Sharpay sat, each with a bottle of alcohol in their hand. As she walked past Troy she shot him an evil look to which he smirked at, knowing it wouldn't be long before she'd be in his arms, their bodies grinding together.

"Where have you been, Gab?" Taylor asked as Gabriella reached the table, sitting down with a sigh.

"Dancing." Gabriella said matter of factly.

"Well duh. Anyone catch your eye?" Sharpay asked. Her and Taylor had been watching Gabriella and Troy, but they both knew Gabriella was usually reluctant with guys because of her past.

"Nah. Just the usual." Gabriella lied, resisting the urge to look up and find the blue orbs that she could loose herself in.

Sharpay and Taylor glanced at one another, knowing full well that their best friend was lying and wondering why.

"I'm gunna go get a drink. You guys need another?" Gabriella asked, getting up from the table, needing to see Troy without her friends noticing the way she was watching him.

"I'm okay thanks, Gab." Sharpay answered, lifting up her bottle to show Gabriella there was still liquid left in it.

"Me too." Taylor added, raising her bottle too.

Gabriella nodded at her friends before walking through the crowd to the bar, her eyes searching for the man she knew had to be somewhere.

**hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.**

After Gabriella had gone back to her friends Troy had reluctantly rejoined Chad and Zeke, both of whom were very drunk by this stage.

They had gone to get another round of beers leaving Troy by himself and he looked around until he spotted Gabriella sitting with her friends, each drinking a bottle of alcohol and chatting amongst themselves, laughing at something the blonde said.

Troy noticed Gabriella searching the dance floor every now and then and he wondered if she was looking for him and the thought made his heart beat faster.

He saw the disappointed look on Gabriella's face as she turned her attention back to her friends and he decided to go over and see her, to end the little game and ask her to dance with him again.

Troy got up from the table and started to walk through the crowd to Gabriella and her friends when he bumped into Zeke and Chad.

Chad was talking to a group of girls as Zeke watched on when suddenly he started to vomit. The girls screamed and Zeke burst into laugher, the sight of his friend's drunk sickness seeming very amusing to him in his also drunk state.

Troy sighed and quickly hurried over to his friends, knowing he needed to get Chad home quickly, all thoughts of Gabriella exiting his mind as he helped Chad stand up and tried to get Zeke to follow him as he dragged Chad out of the club.

"Zeke, come on dude. We gotta get Chad home." Troy coaxed, stopping by the doorway of the club to let Zeke catch up.

"Did you see him Troy? He totally puked on those girls' shoes!" Zeke laughed loudly.

"Yeah it was funny, but we need to get home before I have to drag both your asses there." Troy pointed out, even though it was clear Zeke wasn't listening to him.

Chad was silent the whole walk home, even though it was only five or so minutes, but that was a record for him. Zeke on the other hand, the normally quiet, reserved one, talked about absolutely nothing for the entire five minutes.

Once they were in their apartment Troy left Zeke standing in the kitchen, talking about the moon which was visible from the window in there. Troy dragged Chad to his bedroom and helped him into bed, removing his shoes before letting him fall to sleep. Troy went back into the kitchen to get Chad a bottle of water for when he woke up and he couldn't help but chuckle at Zeke who was now talking to the man on the moon.

"Troy, dude. The man on the moon is really quiet tonight, he's like, not answering my questions. I just wanna know if the moon really is made of cheese." Zeke exclaimed.

Troy shook his head as he laughed. "Zeke, go to bed man."

"You're a good guy, Troy." Zeke said as he slapped Troy on the back in an affectionate way. "You always know what to do."

Troy watched as Zeke made his way to his own bedroom before he headed back into Chad's room to leave the bottle of water before he finally went to his own bedroom.

As he lay his body down on the bed his mind suddenly remembered the beautiful Ella.

"Shit!" He cursed loudly, realizing he didn't get her number, or even her last name.

**hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.**

"Earth to Gab." Taylor teased, watching as Gabriella blinked rapidly before turning her head back to her friends.

"What?" Gabriella asked, her heart feeling like it was in her feet as she realised she hadn't seen Troy in a long time now. She'd seen him an hour or so ago near his curly haired friend, but not since then.

"Do you want to go home? It's like, 1am." Sharpay asked gently, wondering what had made Gabriella look so sad.

"Sure." Gabriella answered with a shrug.

The girls gathered their things and walked out the club together, noticing how small the crowd on the dance floor had gotten.

Once outside Sharpay hailed a cab and they were home in just under ten minutes. Once they got into their apartment Taylor turned on the coffee machine.

"Coffee?" She asked the two others.

Sharpay nodded and Gabriella reluctantly nodded, wanting nothing more than to go to bed and try to stop her mind from thinking about the blue eyed man she'd met that night. But Gabriella knew that her friends would be suspicious if she turned in early, since she was the one who always teased the others when they had an early night on the weekend.

"Gabs, are you sure you're okay, you seem a little distant." Taylor asked worriedly when she returned a few minutes later with Gabriella and Sharpay's coffees.

"I'm fine. I swear." Gabriella attempted, not convincing Taylor and Sharpay the slightest. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"Okay, but if you need to talk, we're your girls." Sharpay said lamely and Gabriella couldn't help but giggle.

"Thanks Shar. You too Tay." Gabriella said, putting a small smile on her face to try and stop the worried ones on her friends faces.

"Did you guys see that guy with the really curly hair?" Taylor asked with a giggle as she returned to the living room and sat down on the couch next to Gabriella.

"Did you see his friend? The dark guy. You know what they say about men like him." Sharpay giggled, and Gabriella and Taylor rolled their eyes at Sharpay's comment.

"Sharpay!" Gabriella scolded.

"What? You know I like fully loaded men!" Sharpay said trying to sound innocent, but giving the subject it wasn't working.

"Their other friend had the most amazing blue eyes ever." Gabriella said softly, remembering how she felt like they were burning a hole in her when he was watching her.

"So that's who you spent all night searching for?" Taylor asked, suddenly realizing that she'd seen Gabriella look in the blue eyed man's direction several times that night.

"Yeah, I guess." Gabriella reluctantly admitted, blushing slightly.

"Gabs! Did you two hook up or something?" Sharpay asked bluntly.

"Something." Gabriella blushed an even darker red as she thought back to how Troy's fingers had worked their magic on her.

"Gabriella Marie Montez!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Details!" Taylor and Sharpay demanded.

"I'm going to bed." Gabriella announced, getting up off the couch and taking her mug to the kitchen.

As she passed back through the living room Taylor and Sharpay complained, but Gabriella ignored them, heading quickly to her bedroom and shutting the door behind her.

Gabriella lent her back against the door, shutting her eyes as she felt the tears start to hit her eyes.

She didn't want to be crying over a man she'd only known for a few hours, who she knew nothing about, she didn't know what he did for a living, how many siblings he had or what his favourite colour was, but she couldn't help but cry as she walked blindly across the room, falling to her bed as she let the tears flow.

**A/N: Okay, so it wasn't very long, or very exciting, but I wasn't in the mood to really write, but I couldn't leave you guys for another week or so, so here it is!**

**Don't forget to review!**


	6. The Morning After

A/N: So here's chapter 5 folks, thanks so much for all the support so far, and if you're gunna add me as an alert or a favouri

**A/N: So here's chapter 5 folks, thanks so much for all the support so far, and if you're gunna add me as an alert or a favourite, please leave a review, cause I'm getting alerted left right and center, but I'm not getting the reviews to match. Even just a simple "Good chapter" will make me happy! Enjoy the chapter, and there's a slight M bit in this one, as well as some colorful language.**

"Morning, Gabs." Taylor said softly as Gabriella entered the kitchen on Saturday morning.

Gabriella's eyes were slightly red from the crying she'd done last night and she struggled to smile back at Taylor.

"Hi Tay. Where's Sharpay?" Gabriella asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee, glad that she didn't have to deal with her over the top friend when she felt this horrible.

"I have no idea. She wasn't here when I got up." Taylor replied.

"Oh okay." Gabriella replied as she took a seat, pulling her knees to her chest as she sipped the cup of hot liquid.

"So, the blue eyed boy at the bar. What happened with him, Gab? I know something's bothering you." Taylor asked gently.

"It's just. I mean. We had this almost instant connection." Gabriella struggled to find the right words to describe the way she'd felt at the restaurant when she'd first seen Troy and then again the night before.

"That night at Baylor's and then last night at the club?" Taylor asked.

"At Baylor's I couldn't stop watching him, it was like.. a magnetic force?" Gabriella more asked than stated.

"Sounds like love at first sight." Taylor teased, wanting to lighten up the mood a little and it worked, Gabriella let out a giggle as she rolled her eyes at Taylor.

"Sounds like someone wants a fuck." Sharpay said, and both Taylor and Gabriella snapped their heads to the direction of her voice, neither having noticed her enter the apartment.

"Sharpay!" Taylor scolded while Gabriella just turned a dark shade of red.

"She's blushing! She's either thought about it or done it with him already." Sharpay accused, taking no notice of the glares Taylor was shooting her. "Spill, doll."

"Sharpay, Gabs doesn't have to tell us anything." Taylor said quickly.

"Tay, it's okay. I know you both wanna know what happened with me and Troy last night." Gabriella said gently, looking both her friends directly in the eye.

"Troy. Sounds like a sexy name." Sharpay said with a wink. "Now spill, babe."

"Well like I was saying to Tay, there was that instant connection at Baylor's, and then last night we ended up dancing, and then." Gabriella paused for a moment, remembering the feel of Troy's fingers plunging into her and the feelings he evoked in her. "Well, he kinda fingered me." Gabriella said quickly, blushing even more than she already was as Taylor and Sharpay both gasped.

"Way to fucking go, Gabs!" Sharpay cheered, giving Gabriella a hug.

Taylor sat shocked for a few more seconds before she started to giggle.

"Oh my god, Gabs! It must be one hell of a connection!" She said as she gave Gabriella a hug too. "So when are you seeing Troy again?"

"That's the thing, he left last night and I only know his first name. And he only knows my name." Gabriella said sadly.

"Gabriella?" Taylor asked and Gabriella shook her head quickly.

"No, Ella. I don't want him to call me by _that_ nickname." Gabriella spat.

"Sounds fair to me." Sharpay said. "So we need to track down this Troy boy for you. I like a good challenge."

"But I don't know anything about him, Shar." Gabriella argued. "How am I going to find him?"

"Well we saw him and his friends at Baylor's, and the club last night, we just need to go back to these places in the hopes that's looking in the same places as you are." Sharpay reasoned and Taylor clapped her hands in excitement.

"But guys, what if he isn't looking for me?" Gabriella asked sadly.

**hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.**

Troy had spent most of the night laying awake, replaying the evening with Gabriella over in his head, trying to work out a way he could find her in the huge city. But after hours of thinking he realised he really only knew her name, and not a single other thing about the beautiful girl he was crushing on. When he woke up after only a few hours of sleep he knew it was pointless trying to get anymore, because he'd found it so hard to fall asleep in the first place.

Troy got out of his bed, running his fingers through his hair before finding clean boxers, jeans and a tshirt and heading to the bathroom.

Once in the bathroom Troy turned on the shower and waited impatiently for the water to warm up, wanting to let the hot water relax his weary body as soon as possible.

Once he was satisfied the water was to his liking he stripped off his boxers and stepped into the small box, letting the hot water run over his toned body and down the drain, washing away the sleepless night he'd had.

His thoughts drifted back to Gabriella and he remembered the way she had moaned when he sucked on her neck and his body reacted to the memory and Troy cursed out loud.

Troy tried to stop thinking about it, but the harder he tried to more clear his memory was and Troy could almost swear he was back in the club with Gabriella pressed against him, moaning out loud as Troy pumped his fingers in and out of her waiting body.

Without realizing what he was doing Troy quickly started to pump himself, a growl emitting from deep in his throat as he wondered what Gabriella's hands would feel like doing the actions his were currently performing. It didn't take long before Troy began to spurt out his seed, the water washing it away as Troy quickly flicked the dial around until cold water started to pour from the shower head onto his steaming body.

**hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.**

"Hey, Troy." Zeke said warily as Troy entered the living room and sat down on the opposite end of the couch from him.

"Hey man, how's the head?" Troy teased lightly, not wanting to give away how unhappy he was feeling with his two best friends at that moment.

"Feels like I drunk a ton of alcohol." Zeke laughed gently. "But I bet Chad's is worse."  
Troy thought back to how drunk Chad was the night before and he felt the anger surge through him. If Chad hadn't of gotten so drunk then Troy knew he would've been able to get Gabriella's phone number or something.

"Serves him right." Troy seethed.

"What do you mean?" Zeke asked, looking away from the tv to look at Troy.

"Do you remember the girl I was dancing with last night? The one with the dark curls?" Troy asked and Zeke thought for a moment before nodding. "Well we got pretty close, and I was going to find her again when I had to bring you and Chad home cause you two were off your faces."

"Sorry, dude." Zeke apologized, and Troy shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess it wasn't meant to be." Troy said sadly, averting his gaze from Zeke's.

"No fucking way. We're gunna find your girl!" Zeke said determinedly.

"I only know her name. Ella. How many Ella's are there in this city, Z?"

"Only her name? Wow, this is going to be harder than I thought." Zeke said thoughtfully and Troy sighed, wondering how he was ever going to find the girl who was causing havoc on his body and in his mind.

**hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.**

Gabriella, Sharpay and Taylor had gone to Baylor's for lunch, hoping that Troy would be there, but they waited and waited and there was no sign of him.

"Guys, I'm gunna take a walk through the park before I come back home, okay?" She asked sounding dejected and Sharpay and Taylor nodded their understanding, each giving Gabriella a hug before she turned in the opposite direction and walked off, leaving her friends to head back to the apartment without her.

It didn't take Gabriella long to get to the park and once she was there she found a bench near the playground and sat down on it, watching the little kids play, their lives so carefree and easy and she felt a tear slide down her cheek.

As she looked up at the parents, standing around, chatting and watching their children play she felt a pang in her heart, missing her Mom so badly at that moment.

Deciding to go before the tears started to flow Gabriella quickly got up from the bench and started to walk through the park, taking her time as she was flooded with memories of growing up without her twin brother or her parents. Of all the foster homes she'd been in and the children's homes she'd been shuffled between in ten years. Of the many times she'd watched the kids at her school and wished she was normal like them, with siblings and loving parents.

Gabriella was blinking rapidly to try and stop the tears when she saw someone at the other end of the park who looked exactly like Troy and she felt her heart skip. He was too far away for her to call out to, so she started walking as fast as she could without running to him.

But just as she got close enough to call out to him, he got into a cab which promptly drove away.

Gabriella stopped in her tracks and bent down, her hands on her thighs as she caught her breath, wondering if it had been the blue eyed man or if it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

**hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.**

As soon as Chad got up Troy decided to go for a walk, knowing he still blamed Chad's drunk state for him not spending more time with Gabriella. He headed to the park, wandering around for almost an hour, not having an aim, just needing to get out and get his mind off Gabriella. Troy was in his own world when the sound of his cell phone ringing tore him from his thoughts and force him back to reality.

"Hello?" Troy asked as he flipped the offending object open.

"Troy. Get your ass home now." Zeke pleaded.

"What for?" Troy asked, starting in the direction of one of the parks entrances in order to get a taxi back to his apartment.

"Lucy's here and she's not leaving until she's seen you." Zeke said with a sigh.

Troy felt his whole body tense up at her name and he closed his eyes briefly, his legs carrying him across the path and towards the entrance.

"I'll be there soon." Was all Troy replied before he flipped the phone closed and shoved it back in his pocket, his mind reeling at why his ex girlfriend was at his apartment, refusing to leave without seeing him.

**A/N: Okay, so this is really just a filler. Emotions and all that kinda jazz. So please review, because I loveeeee reviews :)**


	7. A Lead

**A/N: Okay, I'm sorry about the wait, but I have a lot going on at the moment, but I'm kinda on bed rest right now so hopefully I'll get a good chance to write! This is a little bit short, but it didn't feel right adding the stuff in that will be in the next chapter. Enjoy!**

"Come on Gabs!" Taylor called out as her and Sharpay stood, waiting in the living room of the apartment.

It was Friday night, a week since Gabriella and Troy had met at the club, and neither of them were any closer to finding the other again, despite their efforts.

Gabriella finally emerged from her room, her outfit screaming "leave me alone", and both Taylor and Sharpay knew she was only going with them on the slight chance Troy was there, looking for her.

"Ready to go, Doll?" Sharpay asked in an oddly sweet voice and Gabriella shrugged her shoulders in response.

"He might be there looking for you tonight, Gabs." Taylor urged and Gabriella let out a soft sigh before she spoke, her voice sounding raspy and weak.

"Come on then," she said, heading to the door of the apartment without a backwards glance at either of her friends who were giving each other worried looks, wondering how on earth they could track down the guy who seemingly had stolen their friend's heart.

All week Gabriella had been distant and quiet, hiding away in her bedroom or disappearing from the apartment for long periods of time, coming home without an explanation and looking even more dejected after each time.

The first few days Sharpay and Taylor thought that Gabriella would be back to her normal self, but by Monday night it was clear that there was something very special about the blue eyed boy who was constantly on their best friend's mind.

Gabriella knew she shouldn't be so upset, after all she'd only spent a few hours with Troy, but she couldn't help but feel she'd lost the love of her life. She knew they'd just had that instant connection and she was beginning to think maybe it was love at first sight, because the only time she'd ever felt this bad was when she was 19 and her boyfriend of two years left her for another girl.

Gabriella climbed into the cab that Sharpay hailed, sitting between Taylor and Sharpay, but barely realizing where she was as the other two girls talked between themselves, glancing over at Gabriella every few minutes, noticing she seemed even more upset than she had all week, and they began to wonder if she was giving up hope.

"Gabs? Are you alright?" Taylor asked softly, linking her arm through Gabriella's.

"If he's not there tonight, I'm giving up the search. It's obviously not meant to be and I can't keep living like this," Gabriella said with a sigh, closing her eyes tightly to stop the flow of tears that were prickling her eyelids.

"But, Gabs…" Taylor started and Gabriella shook her head quickly, raising her voice to cut Taylor off.

"No Tay, after tonight, that's it. I'm going to go insane if I keep searching for him." Gabriella tried to reason and Taylor looked over at Sharpay who had been silent, shooting her a pleading look

"Gabs, babe, don't give up hope. He's gotta be somewhere. We'll find him." Sharpay pleaded, wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"We're here." The cab driver announced before Gabriella had the chance to reply and Sharpay quickly paid the fare before the three got out of the cab and joined the line outside the club, glad to see there seemed to be less people than the last weekend.

Sharpay and Taylor tried their best to keep the conversation from heading towards Troy, not wanting to upset Gabriella even more, and each of the girls hoped for nothing more than to find the blue eyed boy that night.

**Body.Flow. Body.Flow. Body.Flow. Body.Flow. Body.Flow**

Troy, like Gabriella, had not been his usual self all week. But unlike Gabriella his two best friends were males, and therefore they hadn't notice the change in their best friend, or if they had, neither of them had mentioned it.

Troy was glad that they weren't going to a club tonight, he didn't want to be reminded even more of his night with Gabriella any more than he already was. Tonight Troy, Chad and Zeke were staying in to watch the Lakers play their first game of the season.

Troy sat silently on the sofa, watching as Chad and Zeke got beer and snacks for the game, putting them on the coffee table before taking a seat either side of Troy as they waited for the game to start.

"Excited about the game, dude?" Chad asked, looking over at Troy, but Troy only shrugged.

"What's up with you, Troy? The Lakers are playing, they're your favourite team! And you're not even excited," Zeke exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air as if in defeat.

Troy kept his eyes trained on the tv, ignoring Zeke's remark as his mind drifted back to Gabriella and he thought – for what seemed to be like the millionth time this week- what it would be like to have her body under his, to her hear moaning his name as he drove himself into her.

Troy was drawn from his thoughts as Chad and Zeke jumped from the sofa, cheering as the Lakers came onto the screen.

Shaking his head quickly Troy rose from his seat, clapping his hands as he tried to clear his thoughts of Gabriella and replace them with basketball related ones.

Thirty minutes later Troy had successfully managed to get his mind onto basketball, and was cheering with his two friends as the Lakers got another basket in the final seconds of the first half.

"Another beer, dude?" Chad asked Troy as the commercials came on and Troy nodded. "Zeke?"

"Thanks, Chad," Zeke replied with a nod before settling himself back down on the sofa and Troy followed suit, letting his head fall backwards as he felt relaxed for the first time all week.

"Still thinking about, what was her name? Anna?" Zeke asked and Troy felt his body tense up as thoughts of the chocolate eyed girl filled his head again.

"Ella," Troy replied quietly, putting his hands over his face as he tried to push the memories of that night out of his head once more.

"So still no sign on her?" Zeke asked his friend.

"No, I've looked in so many places for her, but no luck," Troy responded sadly.

"Last Saturday, when Lucy was here, you were looking for Ella, weren't you?" Zeke asked, his mind just piecing together Troy's odd disappearance on that day.

"Don't mention Lucy, please," Troy muttered, the thoughts of Gabriella suddenly being replaced by not very nice thoughts of his ex-girlfriend.

_Flashback_

_Troy had caught the first cab he'd seen back to the apartment, determined to tell Lucy to leave him alone. He couldn't believe she'd have the nerve to show up at his apartment after she'd left him for another guy._

_The cab ride to his apartment felt like it took forever to Troy, he just wanted to get this talk with Lucy over with so he could go back to concentrating on finding Ella._

_As soon as the cab arrived at his apartment Troy paid the fare and rushed up to his apartment, starting to feel a bit nervous at the thought of seeing Lucy again. He hadn't seen her since he left her apartment after finding her in bed with one of her casual flings, and he now wasn't sure if he could face her again._

_But all too soon the elevator binged, signaling the arrival at Troy's apartment and he took a deep breath before he entered, closing his eyes as he swung the front door open._

_But as he opened his eyes, he didn't see any sign of the blonde haired girl he was dreading seeing._

"_Where is she? Is she gone?" He stammered, his eyes searching the room as he spoke, but only seeing Chad and Zeke._

"_Your room, man," Chad said, pointing his thumb at Troy's closed door as if Troy didn't know where his own bedroom was._

"_My room? She's in my bedroom?" Troy asked, his face paling. "Why didn't you guys keep her in here. Now I have to talk to her… alone."_

"_She insisted. She's scary, Troy," Zeke said, shuddering at the memory of Lucy's demands that they get Troy here this instant, and that she be allowed to wait in his bedroom._

"_I'm going to go talk to her?" Troy questioned rather than stated as he walked to his bedroom door and taking hold of the door handle. "Right?"_

"_Go do it, dude. Take one for the team!" Chad encouraged and Troy sent him a dirty look._

_Taking a deep breath Troy opened the door and stepped into his bedroom, closing the door softly behind him as he finally heard her voice._

"_Troy, you look good today…"_

_End flashback_

"You know you never told us what happened. What'd she want to talk about?" Zeke questioned as Chad returned to the living room, handing each Troy and Zeke a beer.

"Thanks, Chad." Troy said as he opened the bottle and took a long gulp. "Well she told you guys she needed to talk to me, right?"

"Yeah, what really happened?" Chad asked as he opened his own bottle.

"Well…"

_Flashback_

"_Troy, you look good today…" Came the sweet voice that made Troy cringe._

_He slowly turned around to look at the source of the voice and his eyes came to rest on the familiar blonde haired girl he'd spent the better part of two years with._

"_Lucy, what are you doing here?" Troy asked softly, not moving from his spot by the door._

"_I just wanted to say hi, Troy." Lucy said, her sweet voice making Troy feel sick to his stomach. _

_Troy finally let his eyes drift up to her face, and he couldn't help but compare her brown eyes to the girl he'd met the night before. Lucy's were a light brown, whereas Gabriella's were a dark, rich brown. Gabriella's eyes also sparkled, whereas Lucy's had no sparkle, just a look of lust which Troy didn't like the look of one bit._

"_Lucy. I told you that I didn't want anything to do with you." Troy managed to get out as he watched Lucy get up from her place on the bed and start to walk towards him._

"_Don't you miss me, Troysie?" Lucy cooed as she neared him. "Cause I miss you."_

"_Lucy, you need to leave. We're over, remember?" Troy stammered, taking a step backwards away from Lucy and feeling his back hit the wooden door behind him._

"_Just because we're over doesn't mean we can't see each other, Troy." Lucy said, now standing right in front of Troy._

"_Lucy.." Troy started, but as soon as he started to speak Lucy crashed her lips to his, slipping her tongue into his open mouth and kissing him deeply._

_When Troy realised what was going on he firmly took hold of Lucy's hips and pushed her away from him._

"_What the fuck? You can't cheat on me and then expect me to fucking kiss you." Troy hissed, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth where Lucy's lips had just been. "Get the fuck out of my apartment."_

"_This isn't the last you'll see of me, Troysie. I'm far from done with you." Lucy said in a warning voice._

_Troy stepped aside as she neared him again, but she just opened the door and left his room, sending his mind reeling at what had just happened, and what she'd meant by she wasn't down with him._

_End flashback._

"She's fucked up, man." Chad exclaimed.

"I know, Chad. But I don't want to think about her, I need to find Ella." Troy sighed.

"Troy, your girl Ella. Is she the one with the dark curls that comes into the restaurant? Her blonde friend looked really familiar and I'm sure that's where I know them from!" Zeke suddenly cried out and a light bulb went off in Troy's head.

"That's where I knew her from, Zeke you're a genius!" Troy yelled, pulling his best friend into a man-hug.

"Lunch tomorrow, on me." Zeke said with a smile as the three settled down to watch the second half of the game, each with a smile on their face, happy they knew one more thing about Troy's mystery girl.

**A/N: Okay, so they have a lead! Does this mean Troyella can be reunited? And what does Lucy's threat mean?**

**Don't forget to review!**


	8. Giving Up Hope

Gabriella sighed dejectedly as she found herself doodling on her notebook during her last class of the week

**Okay, sorry for the late update, but life has been hectic, and it's not about to settle down anytime soon, so this is an apology for the fact that this story won't be regularly updated, but I promise I'm working on it when I get the chance!**

**Thanks to Corii for her help with this chapter! I wouldn't of written it if it wasn't for her ideas!**

Gabriella pulled anxiously on the material of her thin t-shirt as her, Sharpay and Taylor waited in line at the club. She wondered if she would get to see Troy tonight, and her stomach did flips at the thought of being in his arms again.

Sharpay and Taylor shot each other a look over Gabriella's head, knowing that if Troy wasn't at the club tonight, that Gabriella didn't want to continue her search, and her stubbornness would prevent her from trying, even though all three knew she would search for him for as long as it took.

A few minutes later and the three girls were in the club, each searching out for any signs of the blue eyed boy and his friends. They scanned the club as they walked through the crowds, finally finding an empty table that overlooked the dance floor.

Gabriella and Taylor took a seat each at the small table and Sharpay headed to the bar to get the first drinks of the night.

"Are you ready to see lover boy again?" Taylor teased, trying to lighten up the mood.

Gabriella smiled weakly, shrugging her shoulders in response before turning her gaze back to the crowds on the dance floor, searching for the blue eyes she knew she'd recognize in an instant.

"Come on, Gabs," Taylor pleaded. "Try to have fun tonight? You'll see him again, I know you will."

Gabriella didn't respond, her gaze attached to a dark haired man that had just entered the club and looked very familiar.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she willed him to turn around so she could see his face.

Taylor followed Gabriella's gaze and saw the man her friend was looking at.

"Is it…" Taylor started, but then the man turned around and the girls were met with a pair of dark brown eyes.

Gabriella sighed loudly, slumping down in her chair, her hands returning to the bottom of her t-shirt again, playing with the hem as she willed the tears not to fall.

"Drinks are up!" Came the bubbly voice of Sharpay and Gabriella somewhat heard Taylor thank her for the drink as Sharpay placed a bottle of alcohol in front of each of her friends before opening her own.

"So, no sign of him?" Sharpay asked after a few minutes of silence and Taylor shook her head, looking over at Gabriella.

Gabriella had her dark eyes trained on the door of the club, having given up hope that Troy was already in the club and instead fixed her hope on seeing him walk through the doors, searching for her as she was for him.

"Nope, I really hope he's here tonight," Taylor responded in a hushed whispered that wasn't needed because Gabriella wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to her two friends.

"So do I, Tay. I haven't seen Gabriella this distant in a long time," Sharpay looked briefly back at Gabriella who hadn't moved an inch, her gaze still lingering on the doorway which had a constant stream of people coming in.

"Should we get her to dance?" Taylor asked, taking the last sip of her drink and placing her bottle back on the table, next to Sharpay's already empty one.

"We can only try," Sharpay said with a soft shrug of her shoulders, standing up and moving to stand next to Gabriella.

She placed her hand on Gabriella's shoulder, jolting her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah?" Gabriella asked, returning her gaze to the door as she saw that it was only Sharpay, and not the blue eyed man.

"Come and dance, Gabs," Sharpay's voice was light and almost pleading.

"I don't feel like dancing, Shar." Gabriella said, her voice barely sounding like her own.

"We're at a dance club, doll. We're meant to be dancing," Sharpay insisted.

"Maybe later? I haven't finished my drink yet," Gabriella tried to compromise, just wanting to be left alone to wallow in her thoughts.

"Okay, come and find me and Tay when you're done?" Sharpay asked and Gabriella nodded, not even looking back at her friends as they left the table for the dance floor.

Gabriella felt her heart rise again as another familiar dark haired boy entered the club, but as soon as he got closer she noticed that while he had blue eyes, they weren't the same hypnotizing colour that Troy's were and she sighed dolefully, putting her head in her hands as she fought back tears once more.

--

"Tay, do you really think he's going to be here?" Sharpay asked as they returned to their table a few hours later, with fresh drinks.

"I don't think so," Taylor responded sadly, looking up to see Gabriella in the same spot as they left her when they went to dance.

"Neither do I. But we need to find him," Sharpay's voice was full of determination and it made Taylor smile.

"We'll find him. Gabs needs a good man in her life," Taylor giggled. "And his friends weren't bad looking either!"

Taylor and Sharpay sat back down at the table, handing Gabriella a drink which she took wordlessly.

Gabriella was now slumped in her chair, her dark curls had long fallen out of her ponytail and they framed her face, making her look paler than she was, her dark eyes had lost their usual sparkle and her lips were pulled into a grimace.

"Gabs?" Sharpay asked after a few minutes more of silence.

Gabriella raised her head to look at the blonde.

"Do you want us to take you home?" Sharpay asked, reaching out to squeeze Gabriella's hand gently.

Gabriella sighed, looking back out over the club and she decided that she needed to try and distract herself from Troy and have a fun night with her friends.

"No," Gabriella said softly, returning her gaze back to her two friends who were watching her with identical worried looks. "Let's go dance?"

"Dance?" Taylor asked, dumbfounded.

"Sure, let's go show these boys what they can look at but not touch!" Sharpay cried out, finishing off her bottle of drink and putting it on the table.

Gabriella and Taylor quickly finished their own and the three girls got up from the table, heading towards the crowd that seemed to have doubled in size since Taylor and Sharpay were there earlier.

Quickly the girls found dance partners and Gabriella didn't care who she was dancing with, knowing nobody could dance with her like Troy had done.

She willed her body to move with the music, not concentrating at all on the different men who danced with her over the hour she was on the dance floor.

Finally she started to feel quite tired, she moved away from her current partner as the song finished and looked around for Taylor or Sharpay, but she couldn't see her two friends anywhere.

Gabriella decided to head to the table and see if they were there, because she had decided to go home.

But on the way to the table she got grabbed around the waist by another man who wanted to dance with her. Deciding it was easier to dance out the song than try and escape his grip Gabriella started to move with him, letting herself get lost in the rhythm.

Suddenly she felt two lips on the soft skin of her neck, kissing and nibbling on her and Gabriella twisted out of the stranger's grasp, hurrying away from him as fast as her legs would take her.

Gabriella forgot about finding Taylor and Sharpay and headed for the exit, passing through the crowd outside until she was standing in the street, trying to catch her breath as the cold night's air swept over her body and made her shiver.

Gabriella quickly hailed a cab and gave the driver her address before pulling out her cell phone and ringing both Sharpay and Taylor and telling them she'd gone home without them.

Sitting back in the seat Gabriella closed her eyes, letting the tears sting the inside of her eyelids as she realised that the search for her mysterious lover was over, she had vowed not to search for him after the night was over.

All too soon the cab pulled up outside Gabriella's apartment building and she went inside, going up in the elevator until she reached her own apartment.

Once inside Gabriella let her body sink to the floor, tears flowing down her cheeks as she let the night's events take over her body, her small frame shaking with the sobs until she fell asleep.

That's where Sharpay and Taylor found their best friend a few hours later when they finally made their way home.

Gabriella was resting against the wall, her dark curls falling across her face like a curtain, shielding her pain and hurt from her two best friends.

Sharpay slowly shook Gabriella awake and Taylor helped lead her to her room and tuck her into her bed, the two waiting to make sure Gabriella was asleep before they slipped out of her room, heading to the kitchen where Taylor made them each a cup of coffee.

Sipping on the coffee both were lost in thought for quite some time, thinking about how hard it must be for Gabriella to have this wonderful man given to her for one night, and then viciously snatched away before they got the change to know each other.

"I'm going to bed, Shar," Taylor's voice broke the blonde from her thoughts.

"Yeah me too, Tay," Sharpay said, standing from the table and putting her empty cup into the dishwasher.

"G'night," Taylor said as the pair headed off to their respective bedrooms.

"Night, Tay," Sharpay replied, slipping into her own bedroom.

As Sharpay and Taylor lay in bed that night, they each vowed not to let Gabriella go without the blue eyed man and each made the decision to secretly keep the search going until they found their friend's crush.

**Okay, so Taylor and Sharpay aren't giving up, what about Troy, is he still looking for his dark beauty? Or will it be up to the girls to find him?**


	9. A Run In

Troy went to bed after the Lakers game had finished and he'd had a few more beers with Zeke and Chad, and he was feeling bette

**Okay, so the story is starting to take off now! I'm going to be a lot more into it now because the majority of the angst is over! So I hope you enjoy this chapter, and don't forget to hit the magical purple button and leave me a review, cause that'd make me happy!**

Troy went to bed after the Lakers game had finished and he'd had a few more beers with Zeke and Chad, and he was feeling better than he had since he realised he had no way to find the dark haired Ella.

He and Zeke had talked for a bit after Chad had gone to bed, knowing the afro haired man wouldn't of been much help devising a plan to find Ella again and would've only made teasing comments about their dance floor action.

Zeke had decided to meet for a late lunch at 1.30, knowing that was the time the girls came in if they went there for lunch during the weekend, and he figured it was to give themselves a sleep in after they'd been out all night the previous night.

Troy was excited for the next day, the thoughts of Gabriella filling his head as he stripped off to his boxers and slipped into his bed.

**(Innocent minds skip down until the next bold bit, you have been warned)**

Once Troy started thinking of what had happened on the dance floor that night he found he was unable to stop, and within a short amount of time he was laying in his bed, arousal filling his body and the more he tried not to think of the dark haired girl the more he thought of her and the harder and more needing his body became.

_Gabriella moaned as his lips left hers, sucking immediately on her sweet spot, not knowing how he knew where to use his mouth. Her moan intensified as he slipped a hand into her pants, sweeping along her folds quickly before plunging a finger into her womanhood, filling Gabriella with feelings she'd never felt before._

Troy pushed his blankets off from his body, quickly pushing his boxers down his thighs to release his throbbing manhood which he then took into his hand, pumping it with expertise as he imagined, not for the first time, what Gabriella's hands would feel like doing this to him.

A small moan slipped out of Troy's mouth as he fastened his pace, knowing he wasn't going to last long.

_She couldn't let him stop and she was soon begging him to keep going, her orgasm approaching faster than it ever had before. Her leg was pulled up around his waist, allowing him to slip in a second finger, tipping her over the edge, her body racking against his as she bit down hard on her lip to keep herself from screaming out._

His thoughts drifted back to Gabriella's bedroom talents he wanted to know more about and he imagined her warm mouth covering him, sucking him dry as his fingers wrapped through her curls.

This thought alone was enough to send him over the edge and he bit down hard on his bottom lip to stifle the loud groan he let out as the warm sprays of cum covered his chest, stomach and finally his hand.

He lay still for a few seconds, pumping out the last drops of cum and regaining his breath before leaning over carefully and grabbing the box of tissues that he'd taken to keeping on his bedside table to clean up what had become a nightly ritual after he'd been thinking about Gabriella and their night in the club, and what he hoped they'd experience together before too long.

**(innocent minds can read from here on)**

He quickly wiped his body and threw the used tissues in the trashcan next to his bed before pulling his boxers back up to rest on his hips and then covering himself with the blanket as he settled back down into his bed, feeling himself already drifting off to sleep.

--

The next morning he woke up unusually early and got into the bathroom before Chad and Zeke were even up, meaning he didn't have to hurry, or wait his turn, which was the thing he hated most about sharing a one bathroom apartment with two other people.

Once he was showered and dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a blue and white button up cotton shirt Troy headed to the kitchen, brushing his bangs out of his face as he searched the pantry for something to eat.

Finally deciding on cornflakes Troy poured himself a bowl full, covering it with milk and sprinkling sugar across the surface.

Just as he was eating the dregs Zeke arrived in the kitchen, freshly showered and wearing a frown.

"Hey man," he greeted Troy, and Troy nodded, his mouth full of cereal.

Zeke poured himself a coffee and raised his eyebrows in Troy's direction.

"Thanks," Troy answered before taking the last spoonful of milk from the bowl and setting it back on the table with the spoon next to it.

Zeke brought over the steaming mug of coffee and sat down with Troy, the men both sitting in comfortable silence, lost in their own thoughts.

Zeke opened his mouth to say something when his cell phone rung out from his pocket and he sighed before answering it.

Troy turned his attention away from his best friend and continued to sip at the hot coffee, his mind turning to what he hoped would be a reunion with Gabriella that afternoon and he felt his heart speed up at the thought of it, the thought of being close to her again, looking into her sparkling brown eyes and seeing her smile up at him.

Zeke snapping his phone shut and letting out another sigh drew Troy from his thoughts and he looked up to see an annoyed look on the dark man's face.

"I have to go into work, apparently there was a mix up on the ingredients I ordered on Thursday," He said before drinking the rest of his coffee.

"We can still meet for lunch though, right?" Troy asked quickly, not wanting to miss out on the change to see Gabriella again, if she was indeed there today.

"Sure, you and Chad just come down at 1.30 and I'll be finished by then and starving," Zeke laughed, standing up from the table and heading to the dishwasher, placing his mug inside before closing it.

"See ya then, Zeke," Troy said with a quick wave in his friend's direction and Zeke smiled in return.

"Catch ya up, Troy," he replied before leaving the apartment.

Troy sat at the table for a little bit longer until he started to get restless and decided to go for a walk before he and Chad were to meet Zeke for lunch.

Troy quickly scribbled a note to Chad and left it on the refrigerator, knowing that would be the first place Chad would go when he awoke before he headed out the door.

Setting off down the street he enjoyed the mid morning calmness that had seemingly overtaken the streets between his house and the park he'd been frequenting.

Troy walked along the path until he came to the small clearing in the trees that didn't look like it really lead to anywhere. Ducking into the small area he pushed his way through a few branches until he was standing at the edge of a small river.

Settling down on the riverbed Troy started to skim rocks along the water, letting himself get lost in the calmness that the river provided him with, all thoughts of his search and his work, and even his friends left his mind as he basked in the sunlight.

It seemed to Troy that he had only been at the river a half hour or so, but when he looked at his watch he realised it was 12.45 and he decided he better head back to the apartment and get Chad otherwise they'd be late for lunch with Zeke.

Troy headed back to the main path of the park, and just as he walked through the park gates his cell phone started to ring.

He pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open, not even bothering to check who the caller was, just assuming it was Chad wanting to know when he was going to be home.

"Ten minutes, Chad,." Troy greeted, starting to walk down the street in the direction of his apartment.

"Troy?" Came a voice that sounded suspiciously like Zeke's. "Are you and Chad on your way over?"

"Uh, no. I'm just walking back to the apartment to get Chad now, why?" Troy questioned, looking at his watch again to make sure he had read the right time just a few minutes before.

"Get here now. Your Ella's just arrived with her two friends," Zeke said, and Troy felt his face spread into the biggest grin he'd ever worn.

"I'll be there in a few," Troy confirmed, hailing a cab as he snapped the phone shut, stuffing it into his pocket.

--

Gabriella woke up on Saturday morning to the sight of her blonde haired friend shaking her awake.

"Shar. Go away. I'm sleeping," Gabriella muttered, rolling away from the hands of her friend and burying back under the covers.

"No, you're awake," Sharpay said with a roll of her eyes. "So get your behind out of that bed and into the shower, because we're going out for lunch."

"I don't want to," Gabriella whined before she felt her blankets being tugged off her body, exposing her to the cold air.

"Up. Now!" Sharpay ordered before leaving the room, leaving Gabriella cursing her friend for disturbing her sleep.

Gabriella sleepily stumbled to the bathroom and turned on the shower, making sure the temperature was set to be cooler than she would normally have it in order to wake her up.

While waiting for the shower to heat up Gabriella brushed her teeth, blinking rapidly to clear the sleep from her eyes.

Spitting the toothpaste into the sink Gabriella got a fright when there was a loud banging on the bathroom door.

"Come on, Montez! We don't have all day!" Sharpay cried out and Gabriella rolled her eyes at the blonde's enthusiasm, wondering what was so important that they had to leave almost instantly for lunch.

Quickly rinsing her mouth out Gabriella then took off her pajama pants and t-shirt she had slept in and stepped into the shower, allowing the cool water to flow over her body and wake her up fully.

Once she was more awake Gabriella turned the shower to a hotter temperature before she washed her body, making sure not to get her hair wet because she knew she wouldn't have time to style it when Sharpay was in one of her moods.

In record time Gabriella was back in her bedroom, wrapped in a towel and trying to decide what to wear.

"Wear that blue dress you bought last week," Sharpay said, reading Gabriella's mind as she walked into Gabriella's bedroom and sat down on the bed.

"Sharpay Evans! Get out of my bedroom now!" Gabriella cried out in frustration. "Don't you know what privacy is?"

"Don't you know how to wake up on the right side of the bed?" Sharpay retorted as she exited the bedroom, going to find Taylor to let her know their plan might not go as planned because of Gabriella's seemingly bad mood.

Just to spite Sharpay, Gabriella chose a pair of black skinny leg jeans and a simple white t-shirt that had a scoop neck and a floral hem. Remembering she had no time to do anything with her hair Gabriella quickly brushed her dark curls and then slipped on a pair of white ballet flats before heading out to let Sharpay know she was ready to leave.

"About time!" Came the huffed reply of Sharpay.

"You look gorgeous, Gabs," Taylor interjected, knowing Sharpay was just being difficult, as she often was and Taylor didn't want the day to start off with a fight between her two friends. "Are you ready to go to lunch now?"

"I guess," Gabriella replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I'm not really hungry because I just woke up," she directed the second part of her sentence to the blonde who was now standing by the door, impatiently waiting to go.

"Let's go then, shall we?" Taylor asked, glancing between the two girls who were standing either side of her, giving each other glares.

Sharpay quickly left the apartment and Taylor followed. Gabriella stood for a second before letting out a sigh and following her two friends, but wanting nothing more than to go back inside the apartment, crawl into bed, and wallow in self pity.

--

By the time the three girls got to the place Sharpay wanted to go for lunch Gabriella had given up trying to pretend she was in a good mood and had no idea what restaurant they had just arrived at.

They were seated quickly and Gabriella's eyes scanned over the menu, looking for something light to eat, knowing if she didn't eat then Sharpay would be even more angry with her than she already was.

"Have you decided what you're having, Gabs?" Taylor asked, breaking the awkward silence that had set over the table.

Gabriella looked up at her friend, and as her eyes went up the menu she noticed the name of the restaurant.

Baylor's.

Gabriella suddenly stood up from the table, dropping the menu to the table, feeling the tears starting to spill down her cheeks as she realised her friends had brought her to the restaurant in the hopes that Troy would be there, even though she had told them the night before she wanted to forget about him.

"Gabs…" Sharpay started, her tone soft, especially compared to the one she had been using with Gabriella earlier at the apartment.

Gabriella shook her head rapidly in response before she scrambled away from the table, weaving her way through the restaurant until she was out in the street.

Not even looking where she was going she broke out into a run only to be stopped a few seconds later by a solid object in her path.

She looked up to see what had stopped her, the tears still flowing freely from her deep brown eyes.

When those eyes connected with the bright blue ones that belonged to the person she had run into her breath caught in her throat and she wondered if she had been knocked out cold, because the person standing in front of her was most certainly….

…. Troy.

**So, what'd ya think? Our two have finally ran into each other… literally… review and give me your opinion.**


	10. A Question

"Shit, are you okay

**I'm getting rather good at this updating business aren't I? So here is what I take from the reviews as a rather anticipated chapter and I hope it lives up to your expectations! Enjoy and don't forget to leave a review!**

"Shit, are you okay?" Troy stammered as he felt someone collide with his chest.

But the person didn't answer, instead she looked up at him, their eyes locking immediately, as they had done each other time they'd seen each other, and both instantly knew who the other was.

"Ella!" Troy cried out, sweeping her into his arms and spinning her around. "I can't believe it!"

Gabriella was still in shock as her body molded against Troy's, her body fitting perfectly against his.

Troy finally settled her back on the ground, his hands still firmly on her hips as if he never wanted to let go again.

Gabriella finally found her voice as the bright blue eyes pierced into her own.

"Troy?" She whispered, reaching one hand up to caress his cheek.

Troy leaned into her touch, closing his eyes in contentment as he relished in her touch.

"God, Ella," Troy said softly as he rested her hand on his cheek and he opened his eyes. "Have you been crying?" He asked worriedly, his own hands flying to cup her face, his eyes filling with worry.

"I got upset when I realised where Shar and Tay had brought me," Gabriella confessed. "It's nothing."

"Are you sure?" Troy asked, his voice laced with sincerity as he tried to read her eyes, wanting to make sure that she really was okay.

Gabriella merely nodded in reply, once again losing her voice as her emotions overcame her and made the tears well up in her eyes.

"Hey, hey, don't cry," Troy coaxed, dipping his head to kiss away the tears that fell down her cheeks, staining her skin. "Come on, baby, don't cry."

"GABRIELLA?" Came the worried cry from Sharpay exiting the restaurant, her brown eyes darting around until they came to rest on Troy and Gabriella. "Lover boy? No fucking way!"

"Shar…" Gabriella said in a warning tone, dropping her hand from Troy's cheek as his own dropped from her face, their hands meeting and lacing together instinctively as Sharpay kept her gaze on the pair, a huge smile spreading across her face.

"Oh I was right, Gabs, he's definitely sexy," Sharpay approved as she approached the pair.

"Sharpay Evans. I'm warning you," Gabriella said, stepping towards her friend, a frown on her face.

"I'm kidding, Gabs," Sharpay said, flashing Troy a smile. "Plus, he fingered you, not me, that makes him automatically yours."

Gabriella flashed a deep red colour and she avoided Troy's gaze as he shuffled consciously on the spot.

"Shar, Gabs?" Taylor called out as she exited the restaurant that Sharpay had come out of a few minutes earlier. "Lover boy. Oh my god!"

"Lover boy?" Troy whispered to Gabriella and she flashed him an apologetic smile.

"What brings you here, Troy boy?" Sharpay asked, breaking the silence that had settled over the group since Taylor emerged.

"Uh, my friend, Zeke. He um, called me and said that Ella was here," Troy confessed, turning to look at Gabriella once more. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"So have we!" Sharpay interrupted and both Taylor and Gabriella rolled their eyes at their friend's bluntness.

"Uh, Ella? Can we go for a walk?" Troy asked nervously, glancing at Sharpay out the corner of his eye, and Gabriella could sense than her friend's boldness was scaring the boy.

"Sure, Troy," Gabriella answered, tearing her gaze away from Troy to look at Taylor, silently pleading with her to keep Sharpay from ruining her walk with Troy.

"Come on, Shar, let's go back inside and get lunch," Taylor said, linking her arm through Sharpay's and gently tugging the blonde in the direction of the restaurant.

"But Taylor!" Sharpay whined, looking between Troy and Gabriella who were standing awkwardly next to one another.

"Sharpay!" Taylor scolds, managing to pull the blonde back into the restaurant, leaving Troy and Gabriella standing, alone, watching one another with soft smiles covering their faces.

"Uh, shall we?" Troy asked nervously, his left hand rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced down the street.

"Yeah, okay," Gabriella answered softly, feeling the tension that hung in the air as the pair turned and started walking down the street, neither wanting to make a decision as to where they were going, both just letting their feet do the walking.

--

"Are you ladies ready to order?" The waiter asked and Taylor looked over at Sharpay who was still looking at her menu, her brow wrinkled as she sat deep in thought.

Taylor knew her friend wasn't thinking about what to eat for lunch, but more how she could get herself closer to Gabriella and Troy and to witness their reunion, but Taylor was adamant that the blonde would be leaving the two alone to talk, or whatever it was they wanted to do.

"I'll have the soup of the day, please," Taylor said to the waiter, watching as he scribbled it down on his notepad. "Shar?"

Sharpay startled at the sound of her friend's louder than normal voice.

"Sorry, what?" Sharpay asked, looking between Taylor and the waiter.

"What would you like to order, Miss?" The waiter replied politely and Sharpay flushed, her eyes quickly skimming over the menu.

"Maybe we should skip lunch, Tay?" Sharpay said carefully, avoiding her friend's gaze.

"Sharpay. No. Don't you even think that we're going to go after Gabriella. Not on my watch," Taylor scolded, glaring at the girl across from her.

Sharpay rolled her eyes and then looked up at the waiter, clearing her throat before placing her order.

"Uh, the chicken and the salad, thanks. Hold the dressing," Sharpay said quickly, folding her menu and handing it to the waiter as he finished jotting down her order.

"Thanks," He said with a smile that neither girl noticed.

"Sharpay, how can you even think of going after Gabriella, do you really not understand privacy?" Taylor practically yelled once the waiter left.

"What if… but… we can…. Sorry," Sharpay rambled, casting her eyes downward as she saw the anger in the dark eyes of her friend.

"Now we're going to have lunch, then we'll go home, and when Gabriella comes home I will kill you if you start to grill her, comprehend?" Taylor asked, her tone dripping with seriousness.

"Okay Tay, I'm sorry," Sharpay said sincerely.

"It's okay, and I'm sure Troy and Gabriella have their tongues down each others throats as we speak," Taylor giggled, relieved when a smile spread across Sharpay's face, and she too laughed.

--

Unlike her friend's predictions, Gabriella's tongue was still in her own mouth, her mouth that had been closed since her and Troy had started their walk, both too nervous to speak.

They had walked been walking down the street for a short while before Gabriella had finally got the courage to look over at Troy, a blush casting over both their cheeks as they noticed the other's gaze on them.

"I didn't think I was going to find you again, Ella," Troy said softly, the smile that had been on his face faltering slightly as he thought of how he'd felt since leaving the club a week ago.

"I'd given up hope," Gabriella confessed sadly, lacing her fingers together in nervousness as she averted her eyes from Troy's piercing blue ones.

Troy suddenly stopped walking at the confession, his hands reaching out to find Gabriella's hips, pulling her body to his, her soft curves molding against his hard sculpted form.

Both were unaware that they were in the middle of the sidewalk in a busy street with people pushing past them, the only thing that existed in that moment were the two of them and the feel of being close to one another again.

"I was never going to give up," Troy whispered into Gabriella's ear, sending shivers down her spine.

"Why not?" Gabriella asked, her voice muffled slightly by Troy's chest.

"That night in the club with you, I felt something I'd never felt before, I needed to feel it again," Troy pulled away slightly from Gabriella so he could connect their eyes.

"I felt it too," Gabriella smiled, her brown eyes sparkling as she looked into Troy's bright blues.

"Ella, will you go out with me?" Troy asked suddenly, surprising both himself and Gabriella with his question.

Gabriella took a few seconds to realise what he'd asked, but when she finally did her smile grew and she reached up slightly to kiss Troy on the cheek.

"Of course I will. Name the time and the place and I promise I'll be there," She replied as she settled back down on her feet, giggling softly as Troy's cheeks turned a shade of pink.

"Tonight, 5 o'clock, I'll pick you up from your apartment, we'll go to dinner and a movie?" Troy asked, not knowing where he got this burst of confidence from.

"And ice cream afterwards?" Gabriella's eyes lit up at the plan for the night.

"If you want ice cream, my Ella, you can have ice cream," Troy laughed. "But we should stop standing in the middle of the sidewalk before we get mauled by a businessman on his way to get coffee."

Gabriella giggled again, feeling at ease with Troy, more than she had done with any other man before, an ease she only felt with Taylor and Sharpay, her two friends from her childhood.

Troy dropped his hands from Gabriella's waist as she unwrapped her own from around his middle. Their hands automatically joined again, their fingers lacing together, sending sparks through their bodies as they started the walk back the way they had come.

Somehow, without either speaking they each knew they were heading to Gabriella's apartment so she could prepare for their date.

When they arrived outside Gabriella's apartment they both stopped, nervousness filling the air once more as they stood, silently smiling at the other, neither wanting to be the first to leave, even though they'd be seeing each other in a few short hours.

"So, 5 o'clock?" Troy finally asked, taking a step closer to Gabriella.

"5 o'clock," Gabriella confirmed with a smile, looking up at Troy.

"What apartment number?" Troy asked breathlessly, his mouth inching towards Gabriella's, their eyes fluttering closed.

"5th floor,' Gabriella whispered, her breathing tickling Troy's lips.

Gabriella felt her breath hitch as Troy's lips finally pressed softly against her own, slowly moving against hers, the kiss slow but filled of passion none the less.

After what seemed like a few seconds, but was in reality a few minutes the pair broke apart, breathless and flushed.

Gabriella's hand came up to touch her lips that Troy's had covered a mere few seconds ago and Troy watched her amazement, a goofy smile playing on his lips as he realised he'd just kissed Ella, the girl he'd been searching for, needing, for the past eight days.

"So, I'll see you at 5?" Troy asked, rubbing the back of his neck as he realised their conversation was going in circles in a bid to not end.

"I'll be waiting," Gabriella said softly, stepping away from him and closer to her apartment.

"See you then, Ella," Troy said, taking a few steps away from her, increasing their distance.

Gabriella smiled and turned away from the blue eyed boy, knowing that she would see him again soon making it easier for her to tear herself away from his presence.

"Ella, wait!" Troy called out just as Gabriella was to step through the front doors of the building.

Gabriella stopped and turned around, a huge smile playing on her lips at the sound of his voice calling her name.

"Can I have your phone number? Just in case," He stammered, wondering when a girl had last turned him into a gibbering mess, just because of her smile.

"Of course," Ella said with a soft giggle, handing him her phone and he too handed her his, each punching in their name and number for the other.

"There you go," Troy said, handing the small gadget back to Gabriella, shuddering inwardly as a shiver went up his spine as their hands connected.

"Thanks, Troy," Gabriella said, turning away from him once more.

"You're welcome, Ella," Troy replied, heading away from her apartment building once she'd entered. A few more steps down the street and Troy jumped up and down a few times, pumping him fists as he cheered inwardly, not caring that he looked like an idiot to all the other people around him.

Gabriella lent against her apartment door, her mind racing as well as her heart as she thought to the fact that she had a date with the blue eyed Troy.

Now she just had to face Sharpay and her numerous questions.

**Okay! So they've met, they've kissed, they're going on a date! I was planning on putting the date in, but that can have it's very own chapter because it's rather special! So don't forget to review, cause you guys have been AMAZING with reviews, and it helps me to write faster! Let me know what you think!**


	11. A Date part 1

Gabriella took in a deep breath as her hand opened the door to her apartment, knowing Sharpay and Taylor would be inside, and

**Okay! Here's the next chapter, you guys are seriously the best readers ever and I'm really loving writing this story, I hope the date lives up to expectations!**

Gabriella took in a deep breath as her hand opened the door to her apartment, knowing Sharpay and Taylor would be inside, and both – though Sharpay would be the one asking the questions – would want to know what had happened on her walk with Troy.

And then she'd have to tell them about the date, and no doubt go through more questions, when all she really wanted to do was have the time pass quickly until Troy was to pick her up.

Slowly opening the door wide enough to step through Gabriella braced herself for the oncoming bout of questions she knew were heading her way.

"Did lover boy hold your hand? Were your fingers intertwined? How big are his hands?" The questions flowed from Sharpay's mouth before Gabriella even had time to shut the door.

Gabriella hesitated before turning around to face her two friends. Taylor had a soft smile playing on her lips while Sharpay's smile was much more evident, her excitement at Gabriella and Troy's meeting painfully obvious.

"Hello to you too, Shar," Gabriella joked as she dropped her purse to the floor and kicked off her shoes while starting to answer what she could only assume were Sharpay's first set of questions. "Yes we held hands, our fingers were intertwined because we're adults and not 5 year olds, and what does it matter about the size of his hands?"

"Just a question. So where is he? You guys are seeing each other again, right?" Sharpay continued to fire the questions and Gabriella fought a smile back, which neither of her friends missed.

"Sharpay, give the girl a second. If something's happening, or happened with lover boy, I'm sure she'll tell us," Taylor winked at Gabriella and Gabriella felt herself starting to blush.

Hurrying past her two best friends Gabriella entered the kitchen, deciding that telling them her and Troy had a date in a few hours would be news best said from a slight distance.

"Troy's probably on his way home to get ready for our date, just like I should be about to do," Gabriella said as she opened the refrigerator, waiting for the squeals of excitement she had predicted would come from her friends.

"Your date?" Taylor asked blankly, the news not registering in her brian as fast as it did in Sharpay's, an ear piercing scream emitting from the blonde followed quickly by Taylor's identical scream.

Gabriella giggled in the kitchen, placing the bottle of water on the counter as she heard two sets of footsteps coming closer to her.

Two pairs of arms wrapped around Gabriella, squashing her slightly and Gabriella felt a wave of love for her two best friends at that moment. She knew that she would look perfect for her date with Troy, because Sharpay and Taylor were as excited as her and would help her to get ready, just like when they were in high school.

"Where is he taking you?" Taylor asked as she released Gabriella from her embrace.

"What time?" Sharpay added in.

"What are you going to wear?"

"Can we help you get ready?"

"Did he kiss you?" At this question Gabriella couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks and Sharpay and Taylor squealed again.

"Was it like a peck on the cheek? Or a full on I-want-to-have-wild-sex-with-you make out?" Sharpay asked.

"Sharpay!" Gabriella cried out, blushing an even deeper red at the thought of making out with Troy again.

"You totally want to screw him," Sharpay stated with a shrug of her shoulders as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Let's just get Gabs ready for the date, first?" Taylor suggested, taking the blonde's thoughts away from humiliating Gabriella and onto fashion, her favourite thing in the world.

"Okay, so before we can decide what you wear, where is he taking you?" Sharpay asked, switching from a giggling girl into her fashion designer mode.

"Dinner and a movie," Gabriella answered with a smile.

"Okay, a safe first date. You need a dress. Let's go look in your closet…." Gabriella stopped listening as Sharpay thought out loud of the dresses Gabriella could wear, all Gabriella could think about was getting to see Troy again, and she didn't care what the hell she was wearing when it happened.

--

Troy paced back and forth across his living room, Chad sat on the sofa, watching his best friend.

"Dude, you're gunna wear out the carpet," Chad pointed out.

"And if I stand still or sit down I'm going to be crazy by the time I'm meant to be picking Ella up!" Troy threw his hands up in the air in defeat.

"I've never seen you so nervous about a date before," Chad said with a shrug. "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal? Chad!" Troy cried out. "Ella makes me feel differently than I ever have before, even just in the short time I've spent with her."

"I dunno what's up with you, but you sound like a chick," Chad stated. "Now can you move from in front of the tv?"

Troy shot his best friend a glare and walked away, heading to the kitchen to have yet another cup of coffee.

Troy rested against the counter, sipping at the hot liquid and going over the plan for the night.

He was picking Ella up at 7, then taking her to Zeke's restaurant for dinner and then he was letting her pick what movie they watched, since he couldn't decide. Next would come the ice cream she had suggested that afternoon, and finally a surprise Troy had prepared to show her that he really just wanted to be with her and that his feelings were true.

Finishing the last of his coffee Troy looked at his watch to see it was time to leave and pick up Gabriella. He put his mug in the dishwasher and smoothed down his blue shirt once more before picking up his keys and heading out.

"See you tomorrow, Chad," He called out to his best friend.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't!" Chad called out in response, not turning his head from the tv at all.

A few minutes later Troy stepped out of the apartment building, the cool air of the night making the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he tried to stay calm as he walked to his car.

Sliding into the black Audi Troy turned on the ignition followed by the stereo, letting his favourite radio station play in the background, keeping his mind from drifting to Gabriella and having him be a nervous wreck by the time he turned up at her door.

--

The ride to Gabriella's apartment seemed to take Troy forever, he just wanted to see her again. But when he was in the elevator going up to her apartment the nerves settled in and he started to doubt if he was able to be the guy that Gabriella had met at the club.

By the time Taylor opened the apartment door Troy was ready to bolt, but he instead forced himself to walk into the girls' apartment and take a seat on the sofa next to Sharpay who was sulking following a warning from Taylor that she was not to question Troy at all.

Troy kept his eyes down, his gaze on the dark blue carpet that adorned the apartment, until a small cough from Sharpay drew his gaze upwards, connecting with the dark haired beauty in front of him.

His gaze traveled up her bare, slender legs, mid thigh her black dress started, slipping over her small curves up to a V neck and thin straps that were covered by her loose curls.

Troy didn't notice her strappy black heels or the silver bangles on her wrists as his eyes connected with her chocolate brown eyes. He quickly stood up, taking a step towards Gabriella and placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

"You look gorgeous," Troy whispered as he pulled away from her, flashing her a toothy smile which caused her own smile to grow wider.

"You kids go have fun now," Sharpay teased, causing the pair to snap out of their trance and blush lightly.

"Shar!" Taylor scolded causing Gabriella and Troy to laugh softly at Gabriella's friends.

"You want to go, El?" Troy asked, wanting to get the night started and to not have to share Gabriella with anyone else.

Gabriella's heart soared inwardly at the nickname flowing through Troy's lips as if he was born to say it. Unable to speak Gabriella just nodded at his suggestion, taking his hand as he offered it to her.

Sharpay and Taylor squealed at the gesture which felt so natural to Troy and Gabriella, but neither of them said anything as Troy lead Gabriella out of the apartment, Gabriella shooting her friends a quick smile as she shut the door behind her, leaving her and Troy alone at last.

Troy felt more at ease with Gabriella than he had ever done in his life. As they waited for the elevator he couldn't help but look at her again, at the way her tanned skin glowed, blending perfectly with the dark fabric of her dress.

Gabriella's eyes traveled from the blue denim of Troy's jeans to the brighter blue of his button up shirt that had several buttons undone showing a glimpse of the white beater he had underneath. Allowing her eyes to travel up further they connected with his sparkling blue eyes that were fixed on her.

"You really look gorgeous, El," he said again and she giggled at his repeated statement.

"I believe you've already said that tonight, Troy," she teased as the elevator arrived at their floor and the pair stepped inside, their hands still linked together.

"Well maybe you're just sop gorgeous I can't think of anything else," Troy teased back, laughing as Gabriella flushed red at the compliment. "Blushing just makes you even more gorgeous."

"You're a charmer, aren't you?" Gabriella giggled as Troy led her out of the elevator and then outside to his car.

"Your ride for the evening." Troy held the door opened as Gabriella slid inside, the material of her dress creeping up her leg even more, causing Troy to hold his breath for a second as he tried to stop himself from thinking what it would be like to slide his hand along the smooth exposed skin of her legs.

Qucikly shutting the door and heading around to the drivers side of the car Troy slid in himself and smiled when Gabriella;s hand once again found his, their fingers linking instinctively and resting on Troy's knee as he started the short drive to their dinner destination.

--

Dinner went just as Troy had planned, with him and Gabriella getting to know each other better, swapping childhood memories, favourite colours, foods, seasons, tastes, vacation spots and everything in between.

Now they were standing at the movie theatre trying to decide what movie to see. Troy had told Gabriella that it was her choice but she wasn't sure what she wanted to see.

"The comedy one or the horror?" Gabriella asked Troy who has his arms wrapped around her waist, his front against her back.

"It's your choice, but I'd prefer the horror so I have an excuse to hold you," Troy said with a soft laugh, his breath tickling her ear.

"Sounds good to me," Gabriella confirmed. "My knight in shining armor."

"Always happy to save a damsel in distress," Troy whispered into her ear, nipping at the lobe gently, unable to resist her sweet smell anymore.

"Troy," She whimpered in response. "Don't start something you can't finish."

Troy laughed at her words and slowly unwrapped himself from Gabriella's body and taking her hand to get their tickets for their chosen movie.

"Can we get popcorn?" Gabriella asked once Troy had their tickets, batting her eyelashes at Troy.

"How can I say not to that face?" Troy responded, gaining a happy cry from Gabriella who proceeded to drag him to get the popcorn.

Five minutes later Troy and Gabriella were seated in the back row of the theatre with not only popcorn, but soda and candy as well, much to Gabriella's delight.

"How do you have that amazing figure when you eat like a kid who's locked in a candy shop?" Troy teased as the lights dimmed and the previews started.

"It's one of life's mysteries," Gabriella giggled turning to look at Troy, identical smiles playing across both of their faces.

"If you say so," Troy whispered against Gabriella's lips before joining them in their first kiss of the night.

The kiss started off slow and sweet, but neither were able to get enough of the other and soon the kiss was heated and passionate.

As they broke apart a few minutes later both were breathing heavily and they had missed most of the previews. Luckily for them there were only a few other people scattered around the theatre, all unaware of the couple in the back row who couldn't get enough of each other.

"Are we going to watch the movie?" Gabriella asked with a giggle as Troy connected their lips again.

"Of course, I just. Need. One. More," Troy punctuated each of the words with a soft kiss to Gabriella's lips.

"Enough," Gabriella giggled, twisting her body slightly so that she was curled into Troy's side, her head on his shoulder, her arm across his lower stomach.

"Yes, ma'am," Troy responded wrapping his arms around Gabriella tightly, their bodies so close in the dark room it was hard to see where one ended and the other one started.

--

By midway through the movie Gabriella's face was hidden in Troy's neck, her whimpers when a loud nose sounded through the theatre muffled by his skin.

Troy found her reaction to the horror movie amusing and he planned to watch many more horror movies with her, just to get close to her like they were at that moment.

"Do you want to leave, El?" He asked gently in her ear.

"No," She pouted.

"Are you scared?"

"A little," she admitted.

"Aww, baby," he comforted, running his fingers through her curls in a soothing fashion.

The rest of the movie continued in much the same way, with Troy and Gabriella to wrapped up in each other to pay much attention to the film playing, but neither of the minded.

Once it was over they stood up in the now bright theatre, stretching their bodies before Troy took Gabriella's hand in his own, leading her out of the theatre and outside where they started the short walk to where his car was parked.

The air was much cooler outside now and Gabriella shivered as the air hit her skin.

"Cold?" Troy asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I have a jacket in the car."

"Are we getting ice cream?" Gabriella asked excitedly. "Because the best ice cream shop is just down the road."

"Let's get you the jacket, I don't want a frozen date," Troy laughed. "How can you want ice cream if you're already cold?"

"I always want ice cream," Gabriella responded with a shrug of her shoulders as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

When they reached Troy's car he quickly unlocked it and retrieved a black jacket from the backseat which he helped Gabriella into.

"God, you look good in my jacket," he whispered, using his body to gently press Gabriella's body up against the side of his car. His lips sought out hers and he slipped his tongue into her hot mouth, tracing the area, tasting her sweetness that made his head spin in delight.

Gabriella moaned gently as the kiss broke apart and the pair stood for a few more seconds, their bodies pressed together, their chest heaving as they struggled to regain their composure before they went to get their ice creams.

"Ready?" Troy asked gently, stepping his body away from Gabriella and holding out a hand to her.

Gabriella took his hand and they chatted more as they walked the short distance to the ice cream store that Gabriella had mentioned.

"What flavour?" Troy asked as they neared the counter, he'd never noticed the little store before but it seemed to be very popular.

"Chocolate? With sprinkles?" Gabriella more asked, her eyes sparkling as she watched Troy roll his eyes before kissing her gently on the nose.

"Are you sure you're not 6?" He teased.

"If I am, you're one sick person," Gabriella teased back, gaining a laugh from Troy.

Troy ordered Gabriella's ice cream and a vanilla cone for himself and when their ice creams were ready Troy led them to a booth at the back of the store, letting Gabriella slip in after him and mould her body against his own.

They ate their cones in silence until Gabriella reached up and licked Troy's ice cream.

"Hey, you!" He exclaimed, moving his cone out of her reach. "You have your own."

"Yours tastes like you," Gabriella pointed out. "And I'm beginning to like that taste."

Troy watched Gabriella for a few seconds before he burst out laughing at her answer.

"You're too cute for your own good, do you know that?" Troy asked through his laughter.

"I do," Gabriella responded. "But you love it."

Troy nodded his head as he took the last bite of his cone smirking when he saw Gabriella had a small blob of ice cream on her bottom lip.

He dipped his head to gently lick along her lip, licking up the ice cream before plunging his tongue into her mouth, causing a moan to stifle through Gabriella's lips as Troy explored her mouth once more this time Gabriella's own tongue fighting for dominance, wanting to taste more of Troy, unable to get enough of him.

"I don't want this date to end," Gabriella breathed when they broke apart for air.

"It doesn't have to," Troy said softly, glad he was getting a chance to finally reveal his secret.

"What do you mean?"

"I've booked a hotel room, I'm not expecting anything to happen, I just knew I wouldn't want to let you go home tonight," Troy explained. "We can watch a movie, order in room service and get to know each other better."

"It sounds perfect to me," Gabriella answered with a smile. "But I don't have anything to sleep in."

"I packed some of my clothes for you to wear, I'm a thinker."

"You are indeed," Gabriella giggled, leaning in to place a soft kiss on Troy's lips.

"Are you ready to head off to the last part of the night?" Troy asked a few minutes later.

"Let's go," Gabriella agreed, sliding out of the booth and following Troy out to his car.


	12. A date part 2

As soon as the pair got into the hotel room Troy trapped Gabriella's body against the door, dipping his head down to catch Gab

**Mmk, I was planning on having this longer, but I decided to do the heavy stuff next chapter, since I'm not in the mood to write it, but I wanted to give you guys all an update before my hectic weekend strarts!**

As soon as the pair got into the hotel room Troy trapped Gabriella's body against the door, dipping his head down to catch Gabriella's lips in a soft kiss, their bodies molding together.

Gabriella reached her hands up and tangled them in the tendrils of Troy's dark blonde hair, her thumbs rubbing gently on the skin at the back of his neck, causing Troy to shudder against her body.

"Ella," he breathed. "You are going to fucking kill me."

Gabriella smirked as she stood up on her tip toes, slowly pulling Troy's mouth back to her own.

"Shut up, Troy," She teased back, her breath tickling his lips.

Troy let out a strangled moan at Gabriella's teasing remark, pressing his lips hard against Gabriella's, wasting no time prying her lips apart with his tongue and diving into her mouth.

He let his mouth drift from Gabriella's lips across her cheek and down her neck, nipping at the soft skin, the smell and taste of her skin intoxicating him.

Gabriella's fingers intertwined tighter into Troy's hair as she let out a moan at the feelings he was invoking in her, feelings she hadn't had before.

"Troy," she whimpered as he slowly moved his lips from her neck and back to her face, kissing first both her closed eyelids, then her nose and finally a soft kiss on her lips.

"God, Ella," Troy replied, letting his hands drop from next to Gabriella's head to her waist, twisting their bodies so his back was against the door and Gabriella immediately cuddled into his body.

"Thanks for tonight, Troy," Gabriella said softly, nudging her head against his neck, her curls tickling his skin.

"Thank you for being such an amazing date, El," Troy laughed softly, suddenly realizing something. "Hey El?"

"Yeah?" Gabriella asked as Troy moved her slightly away from his body so he could look into her eyes as he asked her a question that had suddenly come to his mind.

"Is your real name Gabriella? Because I just remembered Sharpay calling out to you by that name at the restaurant," Troy asked cautiously.

"I hate that name," Gabriella stated boldly, her eyes flashing with anger for a split second that went unnoticed by Troy. "Please just call me Ella?"

"Sure, I was just making sure I wasn't going crazy and hearing things," Troy asked quickly, trying to lighten up the mood a bit more, bringing Gabriella's body back against his own, wondering for a few seconds why she hated the name so much, but deciding she'd tell him when the timing was right.

--

Troy watched from the bed as Gabriella kicked off her heels, effectively making her a few inches shorter than she had been all night.

He couldn't help the smile that formed on his face as Gabriella lifted her gaze up to meet his, a soft smile playing across her own lips.

"Come on you, get over here," Troy teased, raising his eyebrows suggestively which caused Gabriella to giggle, but she sat down on the bed anyway, sliding across so she was nestled into Troy's side.

"How old were you the first time you skipped school?" Gabriella asked, continuing the questioning that had gone on all night between the pair.

"Thirteen. Me and Chad walked around the block until we knew his house would be empty and we went back there, unfortunately his Mom forgot something she needed for work and we got caught a few minutes after we arrived," Troy confessed, blushing as Gabriella giggled from her spot next to him.

"Gee, Troy, nice going," Gabriella teased through her giggles.

"I suppose you had a better first time skipping school?" Troy asked, wrapping his arms around Gabriella tighter.

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders, her smile falling.

"I didn't really ever do it," she confessed softly. "Wasn't worth the trouble."

Troy didn't pick up on the double meaning of the second part of Gabriella's sentence and he went ahead and asked his next question.

"Worst childhood memory?" He asked, stroking his fingers through Gabriella's hair.

Gabriella thought about the question for a second, yawning as Troy's motions comforted her and made her feel rather tired.

"You're going to make me fall asleep if you continue doing that," she half complained, trying to distract Troy and make him forget about the question he had just asked her.

"You wanna get changed into the clothes I brought for you and we can get into bed and finish this 20 questions thing?" Troy asked, not stopping his hand movements through Gabriella's hair as she nodded in reply to his question.

"I hope I fit whatever you brought me," Gabriella said as she stood next to Troy who was getting the clothes out of the bag he had put on the bed seconds earlier.

"You don't think you're going to fit my clothes? Are you crazy, Ella?" Troy asked, spinning around as he held in his hand a pair of his boxer shorts and a red t-shirt.

Gabriella shrugged in response, deciding that Troy probably didn't need to know how insecure she was about herself, though people were always telling her she had nothing to worry about.

"El, you're so…. Tiny!" Troy exclaimed, holding his t-shirt up against her body the material covering almost to her knees.

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders again, reaching out to take the clothes off Troy but he moved them from her reach.

"No, Ella. Let me show you something," Troy said, dropping the clothes to the bed and gently leading Gabriella over to the mirror on the wall opposite the bed, next to the door.

Once they stood in front of the large pane of glass Troy dropped his hands to Gabriella's waist, holding firmly onto her slender hips as their eyes met in the mirror.

"Look at yourself, El," he whispered into her air, causing her to involuntarily shudder as his breath tickled her skin. "You're so gorgeous and it's taking every inch of my self restraint not to rip off that dress and…. Well you get the idea."

Gabriella couldn't help but grin at his remark. It had been a long time since a guy had given her so many compliments in just one sentence and she twisted in his arms, stretching up to place a slow, sweet kiss on his lips.

"I'm going to go and get changed," she whispered as their lips disconnected and Troy nodded, watching her slip out of his arms and head to the bathroom, stopping momentarily to pick the discarded clothes up off the bed.

Once she was in the bathroom Troy slipped off his jeans, folding them and placing them on the chair in the corner of the room. His eyes still on the bathroom door he started to unbutton his shirt.

Just as he started to slip the material off his shoulders the bathroom door opened and Gabriella stepped out.

Troy forgot to breathe as he took in the sight before him and his shirt dropped to the floor, forgotten about.

Gabriella had tied her curls back in a loose ponytail and taken off what little makeup she wore, leaving her flawless skin glowing in the soft light of the hotel room. Troy's red t-shirt hung loosely on her upper body, though it was very obvious she wasn't wearing a bra underneath which made Troy swallow deeply as he tried to shift his gaze away from her erect nipples that were visible.

Just barely noticeable beneath the long t-shirt was the dark blue satin material that were the boxers Troy had given Gabriella to wear. Her long legs were bare from mid thigh downwards and not for the first time that night Troy longed to run his hands up the smooth skin, feeling her tremble underneath him.

But Troy knew that it was important not to let his lusting side take over, because he wanted to get to know Gabriella better, and this was the best chance he was going to have.

"Bed?" He managed to choke out and Gabriella wordlessly followed him to the king sized canopy bed in the middle of the room, sliding under the covers after Troy and laying so her back was against his front, his arms looped loosely around her stomach.

After a few minutes of silence, just enjoying the feeling of the other against them Troy remembered his question from earlier that Gabriella had never answered.

"You never said before, El. What's your worst childhood memory?" Troy's hand had started to draw soft patterns through the t-shirt onto Gabriella's stomach and he left her entire body stiffen at his question.

"Uh. Well um," Gabriella stuttered, feeling her eyes quickly well up with tears as she got quick bursts of memories from her less than enjoyable childhood. Was she ready to share all this with Troy?

**So what isn't Gabriella telling Troy about her past? How is he going to react to her secrets? And does this have anything to do with her hatred of the name Gabriella?**

**(I feel like one of those cheesy narrators on a tv show btw)**


	13. All Good Things Must Come To An End

"Uh

"Ella?" Troy asked softly, his hand stopping it's motions when she didn't reply after a few seconds, he couldn't help the nervousness that settled over him at her reluctance to talk about her childhood. He couldn't imagine someone as happy and fun loving as Gabriella having had a bad childhood.

Quickly Troy flipped Gabriella over, concern showing in his blue eyes as he took in her teary expression. He pressed his lips gently against her forehead, again and again, needing to find someway to comfort her, to stop her sadness, even though he knew it wasn't possible at that moment.

"Ella, baby," Troy soothed, watching helplessly as Gabriella let a few stray tears fall down her cheeks, his thumbs sweeping across her smooth skin to catch them before they could fall off her chin and onto the bed below.

"I didn't have a happy childhood, Troy," Gabriella choked out. "I had a twin brother, Nathan. He died when we were 6 days old." Gabriella was filled with memories of the photographs she had managed to salvage, memories of how happy her family could've been.

Troy was speechless, all he could do was rub Gabriella's back in a soothing fashion and wait to see if Gabriella was going to add more to her story, to tell him why Nathan had died, and how that had affected the rest of her childhood.

Gabriella sat up as she tried to focus her thoughts, making split second decisions on what to tell Troy to start with, and what could wait til another day, if he didn't bolt after he heard how messed up she was.

"It messed my parents up. Badly. My Dad started to drink heavily all the time, and he hit my Mom. She was too scared to leave him, scared to lose another one of the people she loved," Gabriella took a deep breath as she willed the tears not to start flowing again.

This would be the first time in years Gabriella would tell someone about her childhood, nobody in her life right now knew the story, besides Sharpay and Taylor, but Gabriella felt that Troy deserved to know, she knew there was something special about him and his reaction to what she was telling him just further proved the point in her mind.

"Oh Ella," Troy whispered, still relatively speechless but he needed to let her know that he was listening to what she had to say, somehow knowing this was important for her to get out.

"When I was about five my Dad started to lash out me when I was drunk, he told me I was mouthy and my Mom always told me that if I stayed out of his way then he'd leave me alone."

"Don't blame yourself!" Troy scolded. "You were just a little kid."

Gabriella shook her head fiercely, not wanting to believe what Troy, like many before him, had tried to tell her. "I always bugged him. Wanted him to take me to the park or the zoo. He wanted his son, not me. He told me once that he wished I was the one born with the heart condition, not Nathan. He wanted his son."

Troy wondered how anyone could be so horrible to a child, especially one who was their own flesh and blood, and by the sounds of things one that was lucky to have survived.

"Come 'ere, El," Troy held his arms out to Gabriella, letting her scurry across the small space of bed and throw herself at him.

Gabriella's tears were flowing by this point, her head swarming as she tried to forget the things she still had stored away, filed into the "later" pile.

"Thank you," Gabriella whispered into Troy's chest once the tears has stopped quite some time later.

"If you need someone to talk to, I'm here," Troy whispered back, his arms tightening around Gabriella's waist, pulling her closer to him.

"I think this has been the best date I've ever been on," Gabriella confessed, her fingers making small circles on Troy's shoulder, causing his skin to tingle at her touch.

"I think I'm going to agree with you on that one, Ella," Troy replied, shifting his body down slightly until he was laying flat on his back.

"You sleepy, Troy?" Gabriella asked, stifling a yawn as she rolled off Troy's body.

"Yes, and so are you, gorgeous," Troy kissed Gabriella on the forehead as he pulled her to him, rolling onto his side as he did so.

Gabriella shuffled slightly until her back was pressed firmly against Troy's chest, his arm resting across Gabriella's hip, his hand on her stomach.

"G'night, El," Troy whispered as he closed his eyes, breathing in Gabriella's sense as his body relaxed, slipping slowly into sleep.

"Night, Troy," Gabriella whispered back, her voice laced with tiredness as she slipped into sleep faster than she had in years, feeling completely at ease in the arms of the blue eyed man she had no doubt that she was falling for.

--

Troy woke up as the sun hit his body through the uncovered window. He tried to roll over, away from the intruding light but found himself weighted down on the left side of his body.

He managed to open his eyes, seeing the sunlight across not only his body, but that of the brown eyed beauty he'd fallen asleep cuddled up to the night before.

Some of her dark curls had escaped from the ponytail she had put her hair into the night before and they had fallen across her face.

With a soft smile Troy reached over and brushed them behind her ear, letting his fingers linger on the soft skin of her cheek, unable to resist touching her.

Gabriella slowly woke up from the feel of someone's fingers stroking her cheek gently. Her eyes shot open, only to connect with the bright blue eyes that belonged to the owner of said fingers.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Troy apologized. "I just couldn't help myself."

Gabriella rolled her eyes slightly at the smirk the adorned Troy's face, like a cat that had got the cream.

"I think that's a pretty nice way to wake up," Gabriella replied, her eyes smiling along with her mouth as Troy brought his lips down to brush softly against the skin his fingers had been on only moments before.

"Hopefully it won't be the last?" Troy asked hopefully, his smile faltering a little as he nervously waited for Gabriella's answer.

"Troy, if I didn't want to see you again, I would've escaped while you slept," Gabriella pointed out. "I hope I wake up again soon to a similar situation."

"You got yourself a deal, pretty lady," Troy laughed, wondering how at ease he could feel with someone he barely knew.

"Sounds good to me… pretty man," Gabriella teased.

"Men can't be pretty, Ella. It doesn't work that way," Troy retorted, a slight look of disgust showing on his face.

"Why not? I think you're pretty," Gabriella tried to keep her face serious, knowing she was just teasing Troy and loving his reaction.

"Take that back, El. Or I promise you'll regret it," Troy warned.

"I'm not taking it back," Gabriella taunted.

"You leave me no choice," Troy's voice was husky as he scanned Gabriella's face, checking that her tears from last night were well and truly gone, not wanting to proceed if she was still upset in the slightest way.

But Troy found no traces of the conversation's pain in Gabriella's sparkling brown eyes, or the curves of her lips that made up her smile.

Leaning his head down slightly he let his lips brush gently against Gabriella's lips, feeling the soft whisperers of her breath as they slightly parted.

Gabriella reached her hand up to hold onto the back of Troy's neck, pulling his mouth back down to her own, desperate to taste him, to get the high that she felt when he kissed her.

Troy moved slightly until Gabriella's body was under his own, his forearms holding his weight so not to crush her petite frame.

Gabriella sighed softly as Troy teased his tongue along her bottom lip, asking for entrance into her mouth which she quickly granted him, gently sucking his tongue into her mouth.

When it became a necessity to break their kiss for oxygen Tory moved his lips to the soft skin of Gabriella's neck, sucking and nipping as she writhed underneath him, strangled moans escaping her mouth as Troy left his mark.

"I thought I was going to regret saying you were pretty?" Gabriella asked once Troy stopped his attack on her neck, both of them gasping for air.

"You mean you don't regret it after that torture?" Troy teased, brushing the curls off Gabriella's face once more, kissing her forehead as he did so.

"If that's torture then I can't wait for you to show me pleasure," Gabriella giggled, wondering where her sudden burst of confidence had come from, she was not usually the flirting type.

"I think that can be arranged, Miss Montez," Troy laughed. "But for now, we need to check out in an hour, do you want the bathroom first?"

"Sure," Gabriella answered, sliding out of the bed and heading across the room to the bathroom. "Because who knows how long a pretty boy like you will take in the bathroom."

Troy jumped off the bed, chasing Gabriella across the room, allowing her to dart into the bathroom before he reached her.

Hearing her giggles through the door as she turned on the shower Troy felt himself unable to stop the smile that crossed his lips at how much he liked this girl, after just one date he felt more at ease than he had with any other girl.

Gabriella stepped into the hot water stream, relaxing as the water scalded her skin slightly, she turned her face up to the water, letting it wash away the last remains of sleep, adjusting the water to be slightly cooler to wake her up faster.

After having a quick shower Gabriella dried off, towel drying her curls the best she could before realizing she'd forgotten to bring her clothes from the night before into the bathroom with her.

Spotting the bathrobe on the back of the door Gabriella slipped into it, feeling the soft terrycloth on her skin. Making sure it was tied firmly around her waist and covering all necessary body parts Gabriella emerged from the bathroom.

Troy looked up as he heard the bathroom door open. He had been laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling as he thought back to what Gabriella had confessed to him the night before, wondering if there was more to the story, and if there was, if Gabriella would tell him the rest.

As his eyes connected with Gabriella's he smiled softly.

"El, there's a hoody and some sweatpants in my bag. I didn't wear them to bed last night so you can wear them home if you want. They'll be rather big, but it's better than wearing your dress home," Troy said softly as he climbed off the bed, walking towards Gabriella.

As he reached her Gabriella took a step backwards, making Troy take a step forward to even their distance.

They continued until Gabriella felt her back connect with a solid object, the bathroom door.

"Ready for another torture session, El?" Troy asked huskily as he lowered his lips to Gabriella who tilted her face up towards Troy.

Just as their lips were about to connect Gabriella side stepped, causing Troy to put his hands out infront of him to not hit his face on the bathroom door.

"We've gotta check out in half an hour pretty boy, better cut the shower in half today," Gabriella teased as she walked towards where Troy's bad lay, leaving Troy cursing under his breath as he watched her walk, forcing himself to enter the bathroom as she picked up the bag and shooed him away so she could change.

--

Twenty five minutes later Gabriella and Troy were in the car, starting the drive back to Gabriella's apartment.

Their fingers were interlaced and their hands resting on Troy's knee as they sat in a comfortable silence, the radio softly playing in the background as they both enjoyed the last few minutes to being together before they had to go back to their friends and report the evening's happenings.

Gabriella feared not only what questions Sharpay was going to ask, but how many questions the blonde would've had time to think of overnight.

Troy was mostly worried about how crude Chad's questions were going to be, guessing they would all revolve around sex, and then the jokes he would no doubt come up with relating to how Troy had chosen talking over getting laid.

Both were glad they had a sensible friend to level things out.

But neither were quite ready for what them spending a night together could do to their apparently sensible best friends, with Zeke and Taylor being just as excited to question their friend as they knew Sharpay and Chad would be.

Bring forth the cross-examination.

**Okay, not exactly happy with this chapter, but I rewrote it over and over, and this is going to have to do for now, so I hope everyone enjoys it.**

**Next chapter, the questions and Gabriella and Troy find a new way to aid in their bid to get to know the other.**


	14. Love is in the Air

Gabriella sighed softly as Troy's lips connected with hers again, their goodbye kiss had turned into a make out session in Tro

Gabriella sighed softly as Troy's lips connected with hers again, their goodbye kiss had turned into a make out session in Troy's car but neither were complaining.

"El," Troy breathed as he moved his lips across Gabriella's cheek to her ear, nipping softly at the lobe as he struggled to control his breathing enough to get the rest of his sentence out. "If you don't get out the car within the next thirty seconds you're gunna become acquainted with the backseat of this car."

Gabriella groaned gently at the playful threat, knowing full well that she would happily get to know the backseat if it meant she didn't have to leave Troy and his lips in exchange for her friends and their questions.

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving," Gabriella mumbled, capturing Troy's lips with her own once more. "Right after I get one. Last. Kiss."

Gabriella placed the final kiss on Troy's swollen lips, biting her own bottom lip gently as she ran her hand through his soft light brown hair.

"Call me?" She asked softly, her brown eyes sparkling in a way that made her irresistible to Troy.

He attached his lips back to Gabriella's, swiftly entering his mouth with his tongue as Gabriella gasped in surprise.

Gabriella found herself unable to resist kissing Troy back, her own tongue massaging his, sucking him further into her mouth, suppressing her moan as his hands located her hips and slipped under the material of the hoody she was wearing, rubbing small circles onto her stomach with his thumbs.

The sound of Gabriella's phone ringing throughout the car tore them apart, each panting heavily as Gabriella fumbled around in her purse for her phone while Troy caught his breath.

"Hello?" Gabriella managed to get out as she flipped open the phone and brought it to her ear.

"Where are you Gabs? Me and Tay wanted to take you out for brunch so we could hear all the details of your date. You sound like you just got done fucking."

Troy stifled a laugh at the blonde's comment about Gabriella's lack of breath, her voice was so loud Troy could hear her easily from the driver's seat.

"I'm just about to walk in the building, Shar. I'll see you in a few minutes," Gabriella replied, shooting Troy a glare as she carefully dodged Sharpay's comment.

"Okay, you better have some juicy details since you stayed out all night with him. Toodles," Sharpay said happily, clicking the phone off before Gabriella had a chance to reply.

"I better go, if I'm not in the apartment in a few minutes Sharpay will come out here looking for me, and if we're making out in your car I can guarantee she will die of excitement," Gabriella laughed, making Troy's smile grow at the sound of her musical laugher.

"Txt me when you've been interrogated to within inches of your life?" Troy asked as he tucked a curl behind Gabriella's ear.

"Okay, thanks for the date, Troy. It was, well it was one of the best nights of my life," Gabriella admitted sheepishly, casting her gaze down to her knees.

"It was the best night of my life… to date," Troy teased. "Can I see you tomorrow?"

"I'm working at the hospital until seven?" Gabriella replied, realizing that the next day was Monday and she had her first shift at the hospital, her theory part of her internship was relatively complete, and now she was to be working on real live humans.

"I have a staff meeting until half past six, I'll pick you up and we'll go out for dinner?" Troy asked, not knowing how many days he could go before seeing Gabriella again.

"Sounds good to me," Gabriella said with a nod, slinging her bag on her shoulder. "Thanks again, Troy."

"You're welcome, El."

Troy kissed Gabriella sweetly on the cheek before she opened up the door and got out the car, continuously looking over her shoulder at him until she got inside her apartment building.

Troy waited until she had disappeared from his view before he pulled out his phone and tapped on the buttons quickly, smiling as he hit the send button before he tossed his phone onto the passenger's seat and started up his car, wondering what stupid questions Chad had in store for him when he got home, dressed in the clothes he left in the night before.

--

Gabriella smiled as she picked up her phone and looked at the message Troy had sent to her when she got into her apartment building. She never knew four small words could make her smile so much.

_Missing you. T._

The words flowed through her mind as she put the phone back down on her bed, quickly getting dressed to go out for brunch with Sharpay and Taylor.

Gabriella had managed to get out of being questioned so far, but she knew that once she stepped out of her room the questions would fly, and she didn't think she was going to be able to stay calm and collected when that happened.

Slipping on a pair of black flats to complete her outfit Gabriella took a deep breath before exiting her bedroom, her two best friend's head's shooting up as they heard her door open.

"So how was he? Can he fuck as good as he can finger?"

"How many times did you guys have sex?"

"Did you do it any place weird?"

"Does he go straight for the score or does he like to warm up first?"

"Taylor! Sharpay!" Gabriella scolded. "Firstly, I did not have sex with Troy, so come up with some new questions. Secondly, can we try to keep our voices down so the whole apartment building doesn't think I'm some kind of tramp?"

"Sorry," Taylor replied sheepishly, standing up from the couch and walking over to Gabriella, linking arms with her as she started to lead her out of the apartment. "So tell us what happened last night, and don't leave any details out."

"We went to dinner and then a movie," Gabriella answered as they stepped out onto the landing to wait for the elevator.

"Honey, that is leaving out about a million details, now get talking," Sharpay demanded with a laugh.

Gabriella giggled at her friend and took a deep breath.

"Okay okay, we went to this little restaurant just outside of town…"

It was going to be a long walk to the restaurant.

--

Troy smiled as he finally parked his car in the underground parking lot of his apartment building and he could read Gabriella's reply to his txt.

_Missing you too. El xxx._

His smile grew even wider as he read the reply through a few times before he got our of he car and tucked his phone into his pocket.

He quickly checked his car was locked before he headed to the elevator to go up to his apartment.

In the elevator Troy braced himself for the crude jokes from Chad and the few possible questions that would come from Zeke, but when he opened the door to the apartment he was hit not with questions but with silence.

Strolling through the living room and into the kitchen Troy looked at the refrigerator for a note, knowing that's where they always left notes if they needed to leave one for the others.

_Meet us at the restaurant when you get home. C and Z._

Troy nodded at the note before turning and heading out of the kitchen and to the shower, knowing he needed a hot shower before he faced his friends.

--

Gabriella rolled her eyes as they approached Baylor's knowing full well that Taylor and Sharpay had planned to take her there incase Troy happened to be there as well.

"Subtle guys, and he might be here, his best friend Zeke owns it," Gabriella informed her friends with a smirk as she spotted the dark man she remembered as Troy's friend and who Troy had said was the owner of the restaurant.

Zeke noticed Gabriella and waved her and her friend's over.

"Hey, Ella," Zeke greeted. "Would you lovely ladies join us for a bite to eat?"

It was obvious to Gabriella and Taylor that Sharpay and Zeke were eyeing each other up and so Gabriella quickly accepted his offer, allowing him to lead them through the restaurant to a hidden booth at the back.

"Chad, you know Ella, these are her friends, uh…" Zeke stammered, realizing he didn't know the two girl's names.

"Sharpay and Taylor," Gabriella introduced, pointing at each of her friends as she said their names.

Zeke slid in next to Chad and Sharpay took up the small bit of space on the edge of the bench next to Zeke, leaving Taylor and Gabriella to slide in on Chad's side of the booth.

"Troy should be here soon, Ella,' Chad smirked. "He's probably just showering so that he doesn't smell of…"

"Don't even finish that sentence, Chad," Gabriella warned.

Chad smiled sheepishly at which Taylor giggled at, causing Gabriella to roll her eyes when she realised that her friends were most definitely crushing on Troy's friends.

Slipping out her cell phone Gabriella quickly typed out a message.

_I think Tay and Shar are crushing on your boys. El xxx._

Troy was just hopping back into his car as his phone beeped and he picked it up, expecting it to be Zeke or Chad telling him to hurry up.

_Chad and Zeke? Where are you guys? T._

Troy sat waiting for the reply, and when his phone beeped indicating it had arrived he quickly flipped open his phone.

_At Z's restaurant, can't wait to see you. El xxx._

Troy let his phone drop onto his lap as he quickly started up the car, trying his hardest to stay under the speed limit as he hurried to get to Zeke's restaurant, wanting to see Gabriella again, and to save her from the possible questioning she was getting.

But Gabriella wasn't getting questioned at all as he arrived at the restaurant because Taylor, Sharpay, Chad and Zeke were all too wrapped up in their own conversations to even realise Troy had arrived.

Gabriella quickly stood up, allowing Troy to place a soft kiss on her lips in greeting.

"Hey you," He teased.

"Hey," Gabriella smiled back, taking one of Troy's hands in her own and sitting back down at the booth, tugging him down to be sitting next to her.

Troy rested his free hand on Gabriella's thigh, smirking as he still went unnoticed by the flirting pairs that were made up of his and Gabriella's best friends.

"At least they're too busy to question us," Troy whispered into Gabriella's ear, sending shivers down her spine as his breath tickled her.

"Don't jinx us," Gabriella whispered back as their best friends all suddenly noticed Troy was at the table.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is, lover boy!" Sharpay exclaimed loudly causing Troy to blush.

"So dude, I guess the date went well?" Chad teased, attempting to duck as Taylor's hand connected with the side of his head. "Ouch!"

"Of course the date went well, lunkhead!" Taylor scolded.

"Can the ones who went on the date be the judge of that?" Troy asked, smiling down at Gabriella.

**A/N: Okay so I hadn't planned on writing this tonight, but after I got done with By The Way I had a need to finish this one, so there we go! Now who picked up the way our two lovers will be keeping in contact? And two possible new couples… Triple dates anyone?**


	15. A Surprise

The 6 newly acquainted friends had talked all throughout their meal, joking with each other, as well as flirting with the one

**A/N: Okay I know this story isn't updating often, but I do have good reasons as to why it hasn't been, but I'm sure you don't all care. So here is a quick filler, just because I needed to write some mushy stuff and it fitted in quite nicely! Enjoy!**

Gabriella smiled to herself as she felt her cell phone vibrate softly against her thigh, indicating, as she had hoped that Troy was on his lunch break and they could have a quick conversation before they both had to return to work.

_Hey gorgeous. How is your first day going? T._

Gabriella's smile grew wider as her fingers pressed the small buttons on her phone, typing out her reply to Troy, images of him flooding her mind.

The day before when they had met at Zeke's restaurant Troy had been unable to keep his hands off Gabriella, holding her hand, playing with her hair, tracing patterns on her arms, anything that meant he could be close to her, touching her while he tried to pay attention to the other four people they were eating brunch with.

Gabriella loved the way Troy couldn't seem to get enough of her, when she had left to go to the bathroom with Sharpay and Taylor he had given her a kiss on the forehead, followed by a small pout and puppy-dog eyes as she walked away from him, the pout turning to a huge smile once she appeared back in his vision.

_Long, tiring, but I get to see you at the end of it. How's your day? El xxx._

Gabriella was so absorbed in her thoughts of Troy she didn't see the dark haired man sit down next to her, a frown covering his face as Gabriella sat there smiling, oblivious to his presence.

"Earth to Gabriella," the man said in a loud tone.

Gabriella jumped in her seat, turning to her right slightly to see who had interrupted her thoughts of Troy's goodbye kiss the afternoon before when the six had finally left Zeke's restaurant.

"Huh? Oh hey Marcus," Gabriella said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at her obnoxious co-worker whom she had gone to medical school with.

"Thinking about me again, were you?" Marcus teased and Gabriella forced out a small laugh which was interrupted by the sound of her cell phone vibrating on the cafeteria table.

Gabriella snatched up her phone, flipping it open and reading the message, not seeing the scowl the crossed Marcus's face.

_About the same. Can't wait to see you tonight. Did you get my surprise yet? T._

Gabriella's smile turned into a small confused frown as she racked her mind thinking of what surprise Troy may have been talking about. She didn't notice Marcus scooting his chair back angrily and flounced away from an oblivious Gabriella.

_Surprise? El xxx._

Gabriella nervously bit down on her bottom lip as the message sent and she looked back up to where Marcus had been sitting, she let out a sigh of relief when she noticed he had left her alone.

For the past four years Marcus had been trying to get a date with Gabriella, he thought that he was one of her close friends, when in reality Gabriella was just too polite to tell him that he knew nothing about her and that she found him more painful to deal with than having a tooth extracted.

Gabriella's thoughts drifted from Marcus to the man who was quickly catching her heart. Gabriella had talked to Troy late in the night on the phone, fast realizing that they could talk about absolutely nothing and have the time of their lives.

She was pulled out of her thoughts about the previous night's conversation when her cell phone vibrated in her hand. Quickly flipping open her phone she felt her heart sink when she realised the txt was from Taylor asking how her day was going, not Troy telling her more about his apparent surprise he had in store.

Quickly typing out a response Gabriella's heart soared as her phone vibrated as she did so, indicating a new message.

Rushing the end of her reply to Taylor Gabriella opened up Troy's message, a soft scowl settling over her forehead at his teasing reply.

_You'll have to wait and see. Let me know when you get it. Time to go back to work, bye gorgeous._

Gabriella looked down at her watch, realizing her lunch break was also over and it was time to return to her first day of rounds, counting down the hours until she could be with Troy again.

--

Troy smiled to himself as stood against the wall of the gym, watching his last period class jogging around the court, warming up for a basketball game. His thoughts were far from the students that were in his vision, but instead on the way that he knew Gabriella's face would light up when the bouquet of gerberas –her favourite flowers- arrived at the hospital for her.

He knew her dark eyes would sparkle and her cheeks would get a light pink tingle with the embarrassment of knowing everyone was watching her, wondering who had sent the flowers to her. He knew she would sink her teeth into her full bottom lip as she read the card, and the thought of her doing that particular gesture made Troy's pants tighten slightly.

Quickly turning his attention back to his class he blew on his whistle, indicating for them to stop warming up and to return back to him.

"Okay guys, that was a good warm up, now we're gunna have a game." Troy's eyes scanned the class, looking for two team captains.

"Jessica, you'll be my first captain," Troy selected a girl from the school's girl's basketball team. "And Mary, you'll be my other captain." Troy selected another girl from the basketball team, knowing they would pretty much be in charge of the game, since he was sure his thoughts were not going to stray far from Gabriella until he saw her again that night.

The last period of the day seemed to drag on for Troy, wanting to get to his cell phone to see if Gabriella had received her flowers, not caring about which team of students won the game, or the fact that the usual girls who refused to participate had managed to sit down at the sideline, chatting quietly between them as the rest of the class played the short game.

Finally there were ten minutes til the end of the school day and Troy dismissed his students to the locker rooms, waiting the seemingly endless ten minutes until the final bell sounded and the last student left the gym so he could escape to his office, jogging quickly to get there faster.

Picking his cell phone up off his desk he smiled seeing that he had three messages waiting for him.

The first was from Gabriella, pleading with him to tell her what the surprise was, and a smile spread across Troy's face as he pictured how cute she would look pleading with him for something.

Moving onto the second message, which was also from Gabriella Troy chuckled at her response to the flowers, she couldn't believe he'd remembered that she had always wanted a guy to send her flowers to work.

Wondering what she had said in the third message Troy quickly opened it, his breath hitching in his throat as he read through the message, once, twice, three times, not believing that she would be contacting him.

_Troysie, how long are you going to pretend you don't want me anymore? Come to my apartment tonight and I'll remind you on what you're missing out on. Love Lucy._

Troy quickly deleted the message, his palms getting sweaty as he thought about how hard Lucy fought for something that she wanted. He imagined things were about to get very messy.

--

Gabriella had been walking down the corridor of the ward when she heard a voice calling out to her. Turning around Gabriella was met with a man holding a large bouquet of gerberas in an assortment of colours, next to the man was a receptionist that had obviously helped track down Gabriella.

"For me?" She asked in amazement.

"If you're Ella Montez, then yes," the delievery man replied with a smile, holding the flowers out to Gabriella.

She took them off him, a blush covering her cheeks as she realised she was the main focus in the rather busy hallway.

"Is there a card or a note?" Nicole the receptionist asked and Gabriella swiftly located a small white piece of paper.

"Ella, here are some flowers, delivered to you at work, just like you always wanted. Can't wait to see you tonight. Troy."

Gabriella bit down softly on her bottom lip –as Troy had predicted- stopping the squeal from erupting from her mouth like she knew it wanted to.

"Who are they from?" A passing nurse asked and Gabriella smiled softly, unsure of what to call Troy.

"A friend," she offered lamely. _A very good friend _she thought.

Now Gabriella sat at her desk, looking over her notes on her last patient, but her gaze kept shifting to the bright bunch of flowers sitting on the corner of her desk. She had txt Troy, thanking him for them, but she knew he would still be teaching, just as she was meant to be working.

"Gabriella?" A voice rung through the small office, causing her head to snap up to focus on the source of the voice.

"Yes?" Gabriella asked softly, noticing her boss standing in the doorway.

"If you've finished your rounds you can go home early, it's quiet and you look like your mind is elsewhere," the older woman teased the dark haired beauty.

"Thanks," Gabriella blushed, glad she could go home and shower before going out with Troy, but forgetting she would also have to endure Sharpay and Taylor, and their comments about the flowers and the upcoming second date.


	16. A Moonlight Picnic

"Gabriella

**A/N: Updates are going to be rather sparodic from now on, because my muse is not co-operating and when I do feel like writing I have a ton of other things to do! **

**I just wanna thank everyone for reviewing these past however many chapters, especially my regular reviewers!. All your reviews make my day, and I love receiving them, I'm almost up to my first ever 200!  
Now, 115 people have this story on their alerts, and each chapter is read roughly 800 – 1000 times, so I'm sure you guys can get me up to my 200 this chapter, right? Even if you just tell me you liked the chapter, I'd love you forever!**

Gabriella bit her bottom lip, suppressing a moan that threatened to spill over at the feelings Troy was invoking in her.

Troy and Gabriella's heavy breathings were the only sounds besides the silence that surrounded them, providing the pair with the perfect atmosphere to get to know one another a little better.

As her body was racked by waves of orgasm, her hips thrusting up to meet with Troy's fingers, urging him to take her that little bit further to make her pleasure continue, his name finally slipping through her lips and ringing out throughout the silence.

As Gabriella struggled to steady her breathing she thought back to earlier in the day, when she had got home from work with the flowers Troy had sent her, she couldn't believe she had been so nervous about seeing him again.

--

"Gabriella. Will you chill for two seconds!" Sharpay screeched, reaching her hands out to grab Gabriella's upper arms and hold her still, effectively stopping the dark haired girl from pacing the length of her bedroom.

"A second date, Shar. I'm going on a second date!" Gabriella cried out, throwing her arms up in the air. "I haven't got past a first date since…."

"Now is not the time, sweetie," Taylor said calmly from her place on Gabriella's bed. "The guy is infatuated with you. He sent you _flowers_."

"Tay is right, no guy would send you flowers if he wasn't thinking seriously about you. Or wanting to get in your pants. Lover Boy probably is a bit of both," Sharpay queried.

"This isn't helping me decide what to wear on our date tonight," Gabriella pointed out, helpfully, swaying her hand lazily in the direction of her closet.

"Right. Clothes. Casual he said?" Sharpay asked, heading towards Gabriella's closet, knowing her best friend had tons of clothing for all different occasions, and it was up to her to find the best one for Gabriella's date with Troy.

"Casual," Gabriella confirmed with a slight nod of her head, her cheeks turning a faint shade of pink as she remembered the way Troy's blue eyes had sparkled with excitement as he had refused to disclose any details about what he had planned for their second date.

"A dress?" Sharpay asked, pulling out a light blue sundress which she promptly dropped to the floor, rejecting it as too cold for a nighttime date.

"Jeans?" Taylor called from the bed, stretching herself out on it, knowing that Sharpay in a closet was going to be a long wait.

"Did he say if you were going to be inside or outside?" Sharpay asked, producing a pair of dark skinny leg jeans, looking at them quickly before tossing them to the ground with the dress, deeming them too hard for any quick access Troy might be wanting to get. Sharpay had a rather one tracked mind sometimes.

Gabriella shook her head at her friends' questions. "He never told me where we're going. He said it was a surprise, but to dress casual."

Ten minutes later Gabriella was heading to the bathroom, the clothes Sharpay had chosen for her to wear were in her arms, and Taylor had promised to help with her hair and makeup once she was showered.

As she waited for the water to warm up Gabriella was suddenly struck with nerves. She had been nervous about going on a second date in general, but now she was nervous about going on a second date with Troy.

She knew she had strong feelings for him, even after knowing him for only a short period of time, but Gabriella didn't have much experience in relationships, having kept clear of the male species since a nasty ending relationship a few years earlier.

After taking a relaxing shower Gabriella dried off and put on the skirt and top ensemble that Sharpay had picked out before heading back to her bedroom for Taylor to do her hair and makeup.

"Troy called, I said you'd call him back when you got out the shower," Taylor said softly as Gabriella entered the room and her heart dropped immediately.

He was calling to cancel their date, she knew it.

Gabriella's hand was shaking as she picked up her cell phone and scrolled through her contacts until she got to Troy's name.

Turning to face away from Taylor Gabriella closed her eyes tightly as she listening to the phone ringing, dreading hearing Troy's voice and the bad news that would come.

"Hey El," Troy's deep voice rang in Gabriella's ear and she fought to keep the smile off her face.

"Hey Troy, Tay said you called?" Gabriella's voice shook as she spoke.

"I did. I'm going to be five or ten minutes late picking you up. Chad's car broke down and I need to pick him up from the gym and drop him home before I come and get you, is that alright?" Troy held his breath nervously, thinking back to how Lucy used to act when he was going to be late for a date.

But to Troy's surprise Gabriella didn't get mad.

Instead of an angry sigh coming from her end of the phone Troy was met with her musical laughter.

"Oh Troy!" She laughed. "I thought you were calling to tell me the date was off."

Troy was silent for a second before he too burst into laughter.

"And miss out on some time with a gorgeous girl like you, never gonna happen, Ella," Troy said, shaking his head at her thought. "I'll see you in half an hour?"

"See you then, bye," Gabriella replied, letting a soft giggle sweep through the phone, melting Troy's heart.

"Bye, beautiful."

Gabriella tossed her phone onto her bed before turning around and facing Taylor.

"Do I want to know?" Taylor asked, taking in the overly happy expression on her best friend's face.

"Not at all, Tay," Gabriella replied with another giggle.

--

Gabriella had barely recovered from a mind-blowing orgasm when Troy's lips were back at her neck, sucking her soft skin harshly, making her hiss out as he marked her flawless skin.

Gabriella managed to fight the fog that was seeping through her brain again to unbuckle Troy's belt and zipper, tugging at them until he raised his lower body slightly from the blanket they were laying on, allowing Gabriella to slide his jeans and boxers down past his knees.

Troy tilted Gabriella's face up to his, his blue eyes meeting her brown eyes as Gabriella wrapped her small hand around him, pumping him slowly. Watching the blue eyes burn as he dropped them down to watch her actions.

The colour of his passion filled eyes reminded Gabriella of the way he had looked at her when he came to pick her up for their date, seven and a half minutes late.

--

Gabriella had almost fallen over her own two feet as she hurried to open the door when Troy knocked.

She managed to semi-compose herself before she opened the door, revealing Troy, his blue t-shirt making his eyes seem darker as they traveled down Gabriella's body and back up to her face, the colour darkening as he took her in, finishing at her sparkling brown eyes.

Blushing at being looked at so thoroughly Gabriella downcast her eyes, making Troy chuckle softly before he bent his head slightly to place a kiss on Gabriella's tinged cheek.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologized, following Gabriella into the apartment where he was greeted by Taylor and Sharpay.

Sharpay was stretched across the couch, flicking aimlessly through the tv channels. "Hey Lover Boy."

Taylor laughed from her spot on a chair where she was reading a very thick book. "Hey Troy, looking snappy."

"Hey Sharpay, Taylor," Troy said somewhat nervously, the two girls still being rather frightening to him.

"I just gotta grab a sweater," Gabriella said, breaking the silence as Sharpay watched Troy, a smirk crossing her face. "Sharpay. Stop picturing him naked."

Gabriella dragged Troy through the living room to her bedroom, shutting the door quickly behind them.

"If I left you out there Shar would've eaten you alive," Gabriella giggled, turning to face Troy who was leaning casually against the door, his eyes once again traveling the length of her body. "Like what you see?"

Troy nodded at her question, grabbing her softly by the hips and drawing her closer to his body.

"I love what I see," he whispered, connecting their lips in a fiery kiss. Gabriella's hands gripped his t-shirt in her hands, trying to pull him closer to her than was possible.

As they broke apart a thumping at the door startled the pair.

"You know you're meant to have sex on the date, not in the bedroom beforehand?" Sharpay called through the door.

"We better leave before I hurt her," Gabriella smiled, grabbing her sweater and bag from her bed. "Do I get a clue about where we're going yet?"

"Nope, and if you ask again, I'm going to have to blindfold you," Troy teased.

"Why am I hearing the word blindfold?" Sharpay called out loudly. "You two better not be getting kinky in there!"

--

Troy's arms were beginning to tire from holding his upper body up to watch Gabriella's actions and so he left himself drop backwards, the soft sand under the blanket softening the landing as his head pushed hard into the sand as Gabriella sped her movements up.

"Ella. Oh fuck!" Troy groaned out, closing his eyes tightly as he focused only on the feelings that Gabriella was invoking in him. "Faster, oh fuck, faster!"

Gabriella swiftly rearranged her body so she was leaning more over Troy's lower body, she bent down until her mouth was placed directly over his erection and she suddenly stopped her hand movements.

"Ella? Please don't stop," Troy begged, raising his head from the sand, golden grains dripping from his hair.

With a smirk Gabriella quickly slipped her mouth over him, sucking lightly as she took him fully into her mouth, his head dropping back to the sand as his grunting and groaning started back up.

--

Gabriella gasped as she took in the beach Troy had just pulled up at.

"We're having a picnic on the beach?" Gabriella asked in awe, taking in the setting sun, the clear blue water and the golden sand that seemed to stretch for miles.

"We are," Troy confirmed. "Wait, how did you know we were having a picnic?"

"I saw the picnic basket on the backseat when we came out to your car," Gabriella confessed, slightly embarrassed.

"What am I going to do with you, El? You just can't handle a surprise can you?" He teased. "Come on, the sun will set fully before we get to eat if we don't hurry."

The next half hour was spend with Gabriella sitting in Troy's lap, the pair feeding each other bites of pasta salad between talking about their days, Gabriella blushing when she brought up the subject of not knowing what to refer to him when Nicole asked who the flowers were from.

"_Is there a card or a note?" Nicole the receptionist asked and Gabriella swiftly located a small white piece of paper._

"_Ella, here are some flowers, delivered to you at work, just like you always wanted. Can't wait to see you tonight. Troy."_

_Gabriella bit down softly on her bottom lip –as Troy had predicted- stopping the squeal from erupting from her mouth like she knew it wanted to._

"_Who are they from?" A passing nurse asked and Gabriella smiled softly, unsure of what to call Troy._

"_A friend," she offered lamely._

"I was going to wait until dessert before I asked you this, but Ella, will you be my girlfriend?"

"What's for dessert?" Gabriella asked, her brain not processing the second part of Troy's sentence for a few seconds. "Your girlfriend? Of course!"

Troy laughed as Gabriella's face lit up, her lips coming down gently on his, kissing him sweetly before he hugged her tightly, loving as she rested her head in the curve of his neck, fitting perfectly with his body.

The pair sat in silence for a few minutes before Troy spoke.

"There's strawberries and chocolate cake for dessert," he whispered gently in her ear.

--

Gabriella rolled onto her back as she smiled at the way Troy had just filled her mouth with his seed, calling out her name for anyone to hear.

Troy, having recovered enough to move was suddenly at her side, his nose nudging gently at the marked skin on her neck.

"We haven't had dessert yet," he pointed out. "You were too eager to ravish me."

"If I remember correctly, Troy, and I always do, you were the one who kissed me," Gabriella argued.

"You kissed back."

"You took off my top."

"You moaned my name."

"You… you started it," Gabriella said with a soft giggle. "I think you should also start getting dessert outta your picnic basket, pretty boy, I love strawberries and chocolate cake!"


	17. The Night Is Young

Troy chuckled softly to himself as he watched his two best friends nervously getting ready to go out with Gabriella, Sharpay a

**A/N: Look my muse is back! Another chapter and I don't even think it's been a week yet. That's pretty much due to the amazing feedback you guys left me on the last chapter, it inspired me to get this one written super fast so you all totally rock! Enjoy!**

Troy chuckled softly to himself as he watched his two best friends nervously getting ready to go out with Gabriella, Sharpay and Taylor.

Chad was patting down his large mass of hair, moving curls ever so slightly as if trying to perfect his look while Zeke had changed his shirt six times by Troy's count.

Slipping from the room Troy shut his bedroom door behind him, pulling his cell phone from his pocket and dialing the now familiar number that was Gabriella's.

"Hey boyfriend," was her greeting, her soft voice making Troy's smile stretch even wider, something he didn't think was possible.

"Hey girlfriend," he replied, hearing her soft giggle at his words. "Zeke and Chad are driving me crazy. They're like… _girls_!"

"Should I take offence to that comment, Bolton?" Gabriella teased, knowing how he was feeling because Taylor and Sharpay had been questioning her all afternoon with questions about what she knew about Chad and Zeke.

"Should I pay for your dinner tonight, Montez?" Troy teased back. They were all going out to dinner before heading back to the club Troy and Gabriella had their first encounter at.

"That depends if you want a repeat of our last night at Silveretta," Gabriella replied, causing Troy's eyes to widen and his throat suddenly needed to be cleared.

Gabriella giggled at the sound of Troy's gentle coughing to clear his throat.

"What's the matter, Troy?" She teased. "Feeling a little uncomfortable are we?"

"Ella, you're going to be the one to blame when I drag you from the club tonight and take you home to have my way with you," Troy said with a small groan as his mind was invaded with thoughts of Gabriella underneath him, sweat beading across her forehead as she writhed in pleasure.

"With that, I think I'm going to go and hurry Tay and Shar up otherwise we'll be late," Gabriella said, trying not to let her voice get husky as she too conquered up images of her and Troy in not so innocent situations.

"Bye El," Troy's voice was suddenly soft, and slightly sad, as if he didn't want to stop talking to her. "See you in an hour."

"Bye," Gabriella replied, going silent for a few seconds before she added "I can't wait to see you, Troy."

"Me either, Ella." Troy replied, looking up suddenly as his bedroom door opened revealing to him a shirtless Zeke who was holding up two different shirts, raising his eyebrows as if to ask Troy which one he should wear. "I have to go, baby."

Gabriella's heart skipped a beat at the pet name that slipped so easily from Troy's lips. She had always thought she would hate being called baby, or babe by a guy, but there was something about the way it sounded when Troy said it that made it sound all the so more appealing to her.

"Bye," her musical tone rung through Troy's ear before a soft click was heard, signaling she'd ended the call.

"Zeke. I'm not a fucking girl. I don't care what you wear, I'm not going to think you're… _hot_," Troy shuddered at the word he used. "But Sharpay likes pink. And sparkles. Rather you than me, buddy."

Troy patted Zeke's shoulder in the way men always did to one another as he came up behind him in the doorway.

"Good luck, Z. She's an uh, colourful character," Troy flashed a toothy grin at Zeke before heading off to find Chad and his head of hair, hoping he hadn't taken to it with any hair products like he did when they were 12 and just noticing girls.

Because that was a sight Troy Bolton never wanted to see again.

--

The three girls arrived at the burger place before the boys and they quickly found a table with six chairs. Gabriella couldn't help but laugh at her two friends and their antics, though she knew based on her conversation with Troy that Chad and Zeke were just as nervous for this outing as her friends were.

Sharpay had out her compact mirror and was reapplying her pink eye shadow whereas Taylor had taken her nervousness out on a poor paper napkin that was currently being shredded to pieces.

Gabriella heard a familiar laugh and looked up to the entrance where Troy, Chad and Zeke had just arrived.

Her eyes met Troy's across the room and the rest of the world ceased to exist as Troy made his way closer to her. Gabriella stood up from her chair, feeling Troy's arms circle lightly around her waist and his face nuzzling into her neck, taking in her scent.

Neither Troy nor Gabriella noticed the awkward, but cute greetings between their friends, Gabriella was only aware of Troy's breath tickling the sensitive skin of her neck, of the way his smell made her head spin and Troy just wanted to attach his lips to Gabriella's own, to feel her hands tangling in his hair, to taste her tongue with his own.

Troy pulled away from Gabriella's neck, dropping a soft kiss on her cheek, loving the way her skin felt under his lips.

"Hey gorgeous," he greeted, taking Gabriella's small hand in his own, lacing their fingers together as they sat down at the table, finally emerging from their own world and joining their friends.

Half an hour later and everyone but Chad – who was onto his second meal – had finished eating.

Troy had Gabriella's hand resting in his lap and he was gently running his thumb along her palm, tickling her skin softly, making her squirm slightly in her seat from the sensations.

"Do we want to know what you're doing to our little Gabs under the table, Lover Boy?" Sharpay suddenly asked, looking at Troy and Gabriella instead of Zeke, as she had been all evening.

"Sharpay. Don't even go there," Gabriella warned. "Nothing is happening."

The rest of the table bar Troy laughed at how defensive Gabriella was, and Troy raised their joined hands to show that their actions were innocent.

"Chad?" Taylor asked with a small smile as she looked at her date of the night, his mouth full of fries. "Are you ever going to stop eating? Or do you just keep going til you pass out?"

--

Two hours later and the group had well worked off their meal with dancing. Taylor and Chad were taking a break, having a few drinks and flirting shamelessly. Zeke was sitting at a table at the back of the club, Sharpay straddling him as they made out for the rest of the club to see.

But neither Troy nor Gabriella had a clue where their friends were, they had spent the night drinking and dancing, not having been separated for the past two hours since they arrived at the club.

Troy had somehow managed to keep some part of his body attached to Gabriella's since the cab ride over.

There had been 6 people, and only four seats in a cab, so Troy and Gabriella had happily offered to catch a separate cab from their friends, spending the short ten minutes sharing sweet kisses and enjoying not having their friends watch their every moves.

But right now their friends were the last thing on their mind, in fact the only thing on their minds was the way their bodies molded perfectly together, following the beat of the song that was playing, the vibrations of the music surging through their bodies.

Gabriella could hear Troy's heavy breathing as he nipped and sucked on her collarbone, causing Gabriella to let out a breathy moan, memories of their first meeting flooding through their minds as Troy dipped his hands lower to sit on her hip bones, pulling her body back against her own, letting her feel what she was doing to him.

"You are so fucking sexy when you dance like this," he growled into her ear, biting down on the soft lobe as Gabriella rolled her hips back into him.

"Like this?" She called over the music, wrapping her arm behind her and around his neck, bringing his mouth back down to the marked skin on her neck.

Troy slipped his right hand under Gabriella's tank top, sliding his spread hand to the middle of her taut stomach and making lazy circles over her belly button, each movement pulling gently on the bar in her navel.

Gabriella's breath caught in her throat as Troy's hand dipped down, slipping under the waistband of her sweatpants and caressing the silk that covered her.

"Troy," she hissed, moving her head to the side so she could capture his lips with hers, thrusting her tongue into his waiting mouth, controlling the kiss, and not giving up that control.

Troy slid his hand back up Gabriella's body in a tantalizing fashion, the feeling of his rough fingers against her silky smooth skin making their kiss erupt in passion as their tongues dueled roughly, each eager to have control.

As the song ended they broke apart, each panting heavily. Troy spun Gabriella in his arms, pulling her by her hips to be flush with his body again, his hardened length pressing eagerly against her front.

"Let's get a drink," Troy offered, bending his head down to speak into Gabriella's ear so he didn't have to yell to be heard over the new song that was playing.

Gabriella nodded in reply, taking Troy's hand in her own, lacing their fingers as she started to pull him through the crowd. Troy was glad she had taken control of their walk to the bar, because he had the perfect view walking behind her, and it explained why the organ in his pants was throbbing almost painfully.

At the bar Gabriella rested her hands on the counter, letting Troy push himself back up against her body, their hips still grinding together as they waited to be served, Troy's lips finding their way back to her neck and continuing their earlier activity.

Gabriella ordered a beer for Troy and a screwdriver for herself as Troy amused himself with her body, stopping only when the drinks were placed on the counter in front of him and he had to grab his drink.

Gabriella's eyes scanned the room as Troy took a large gulp of his drink and she spotted Chad and Taylor talking at a table to the side, it didn't look like they would be too interrupted if Gabriella and Troy joined them for a bit.

The pair worked their way through the crowd again, this time trying not to spill their drinks as the crowd moved around them, bumping into them occasionally.

Finally they made it to Taylor and Chad and a table full of empty shot glasses. It was obvious after only a few seconds that Chad had drunken most of them by his glazed over eyes and slurred speech.

"Troy, my man!" Chad greeted Troy as he sat down, pulling Gabriella into his lap, wrapping his arm around her back and letting his hand rest on her thigh, his fingers making small circles on the fabric of her pants.

"Hey Chad," Troy laughed. "Had a bit to drink?"

"Yeah, I think this hottie is trying to get me drunk," Chad mock whispered, though given his state he probably thought he really was whispering.

"I think your hottie is going to take you home," Taylor interrupted. "Is it okay if I take him back to your apartment, Troy? Shar and Zeke left a few minutes ago to go and get coffee, and then to go back to your house. So you and Gabs can have our apartment to yourselves."

Gabriella rolled her eyes at her friend as she figured Taylor had probably seen their intimate dancing earlier.

"What if I don't want to take this one home?" Gabriella teased, budging Troy lightly as she sent him a smirk.

"You're stuck with me, gorgeous," Troy promised, planting a kiss on her shoulder before downing the rest of his beer. "Just use Chad's key to get in. His bedroom is the closest to the kitchen, for reasons you've probably worked out already."

"Thanks," Taylor said to Troy before she stood up, offering Chad her hand. "You're coming home with me."

Chad stood up a little unsteadily, but managed to give Troy the thumbs up sign as he pointed between Taylor and himself, a satisfied grin spreading across his face.

The pair left and Troy and Gabriella burst into laughter.

"He's going to pass out before they even make it home," Gabriella concluded. "But Tay will take care of him."

"What do you say about us heading back to that empty apartment of yours, gorgeous? The night's still young, we can watch a movie before bed." Troy asked, nuzzling his face into her curls, suddenly wanting to just hold her, to hear her giggles and see her smile.

"Sounds good to me," Gabriella answered, her voice softer than it had been all evening as she remembered just why she was attracted to Troy so much, he was a complete gentleman. Even though they had just been bumping and grinding on the dancefloor fifteen minutes earlier Troy was now switched to his sweet, romantic persona, one she found was just as attractive as his sexy persona.

"Let's go get us a cab then," Troy offered, slipping his arm protectively around Gabriella's waist as they stood from their seat. "I hope you have ice cream at your apartment."

Neither of them noticed the pair of eyes that had been watching them for most of the night, the fiery anger evident in her eyes to anyone who noticed her.

Troy Bolton was hers, and she was going to make sure she got him back.

**A/N: So who can guess our little guest at the end? She'll make a bigger appearance next chapter, and things are going to get a little rocky again!**


	18. Falling Hard

**Okay, I know it's been ages, but I had the worst time starting this. It wasn't until I watched hsm3 for the second time tonight and then watched hsm2 afterwards that I finally got my muse back to write. **

**I haven't been totally not writing though, I started a joint account with Kirs (dancinluva20) and we've written a few stories with plans for many more (link is on my profile, check it out!)**

**My reviews for last chapter were amazing, I'm averaging almost 20 reviews for the past few chapters up from an average of 12 so I owe you all a huge thanks for reading this story and giving me your thoughts!**

Troy stepped out of the cab first, offering his hand to Gabriella, helping her out of the vehicle but not dropping her hand once she was standing next to him on the pavement.

As the yellow cab pulled away Troy bent down, placing a soft kiss on Gabriella's slightly swollen lips. His lips gently moved against hers, caressing in a way that was passionate yet not demanding. As Troy slid his tongue across Gabriella's full bottom lip she pulled back, a smirk evident as she pointed her finger at him in a childish manner.

"Now Mr. Bolton, we can't be making out here _outside_ of my apartment building, at least wait until we're inside," she teased, placing her outstretching finger against his lips, giggling as he placed a kiss against her fingertip.

Troy noticed another cab go down the otherwise empty street, and he could've sworn the passenger was Lucy, but he shook his head lightly as he wrapped an arm around Gabriella's waist, what would Lucy be doing on this side of town after midnight?

The feel of Gabriella's own arm snaking around his back tore him away from thoughts of his blonde ex as he smiled down at her, amazed at how beautiful and perfect she could be looking after hours of dancing and consuming a fair amount of alcohol.

"Come on, you. Let's go get some ice cream and watch that movie, eh?" He pressed a soft kiss against her curls.

"Let's," Gabriella replied as she allowed herself to be led inside by Troy, neither aware of the blonde girl who had followed them back to the apartment.

Lucy had been less than impressed to see Troy pressed up against a mysterious dark haired girl who she had later learnt, through following the girl and her friends to the bathroom, was called Gabriella and was Troy's new girlfriend.

Somehow she had managed to follow them throughout the night at the club, keeping herself out of sight of Troy, Chad and Zeke, not wanting them to see her and bring attention to her.

When Chad and Taylor had left to go to the boys' apartment and Troy and Gabriella had made plans to go to Gabriella's Lucy knew she had to follow them. Quickly she located her friends, telling them she had developed a migraine and would be going home early before she stepped outside, seeing Troy and Gabriella slipping into a cab.

Waving her hand to hail down the next cab Lucy hopped inside, directing the cab driver to follow the cab in front of them, which he did without asking a question. When Troy and Gabriella's cab pulled up in front of what Lucy assumed was Gabriella's apartment Lucy directed the cab driver to go up the street just a little bit further.

Handing the driver a note from her purse and calling over her shoulder for him to keep the change she headed back down the street, noticing Troy and Gabriella were just heading inside, making her plan that was quickly forming easier to carry out.

Watching from the door of the building as Troy and Gabriella shared a kiss before stepping into the elevator Lucy felt the need to rush over and pull Troy from his new girlfriend, shouting at him to take her back instead, believing with every inch of her being that Troy still wanted her.

Lucy walked closer to the elevator that she had just seen Troy and Gabriella enter and she watched as it went up the floors until it got to floor number 5, which Lucy assumed was Gabriella's floor.

Taking a deep, satisfied breath Lucy spun on her heels and headed back out of the building, the finishing touches on her plan to make Troy realise what he had given up formulating in her mind.

When Troy and Gabriella had reached Gabriella's apartment she had directed him to the kitchen, calling out how much she'd love waffles for a midnight snack as she headed to the bathroom for a quick shower.

Lucky for Gabriella, Troy had spent lots of time in the kitchen with Zeke, learning how to perfectly make many meals, one of which were mouth watering waffles. As Troy made himself at home in the kitchen, locating the ingredients and starting to make the batter Gabriella stripped off her slightly sweaty dancing clothes and jumped under the hot spray of the shower, her stomach bubbling nervously as she wondered what would happen between her and Troy that night.

In the kitchen, as he was pouring the batter into the waffle maker Troy was contemplating the same thing. He knew he was falling for Gabriella, harder and faster than he had for anyone before and he hoped she was feeling the same way, but he knew that he wanted their first time together to be special, recalling that Gabriella had only had sex with one other guy and he hadn't been very good at adhering to her needs.

In the shower Gabriella was thinking quite along the same lines as Troy about their first time together, she knew it was cheesy, but she wanted it to be as special as possible, the whole forty yards with all the decorations. Realising she had taken longer in the shower than she had planned Gabriella quickly stepped out, wrapping a towel tightly around her body before drying her hair with another towel, brushing the damp curls into a low ponytail before putting on her dark purple satin pajama pants and a white singlet top, not wanting to give Troy the wrong idea with her sleepwear she had settled on two conservative items.

Just as she was about to open the door a soft knock came, followed by Troy's voice through the wood.

"El? What do you want on your waffles?" He called.

Gabriella reached forward and opened the door, coming face to face with the blue eyed boy that was capturing her heart.

"Strawberries and cream?" She asked softly, a smile crossing her face as Troy's eyes traveled down her body and back up his eyes widening as he took in her sweet, yet somehow sexy nightwear. "Troy?"

Troy shook his head lightly, trying to stop himself from imaging how good the satin would feel under his hands as he focused back on the task at hand.

"Sorry, what did you want on them?" Troy smiled sheepishly, reaching out to tuck a few stray hairs behind Gabriella's ear.

"Strawberries and cream," Gabriella repeated. "Are they ready now?"

"They are, and they smell delicious." _Though not as delicious as you smell_ Troy thought to himself as he allowed Gabriella to lead him back through the apartment to the kitchen where a plate of waffles was sitting on the counter.

"Shall we eat them in the living room? That way we can watch a movie at the same time," Gabriella suggested thoughtfully as she searched through the refrigerator for the toppings.

"That sounds like a plan, I'll take them through," Troy replied, picking up the plate of waffles in one hand and two smaller plates for them to eat off in the other before he headed through to the dining room, setting everything down on the coffee table infront of the tv, hearing Gabriella's soft voice calling out to him.

"What did you say?" He asked as he entered the kitchen again, seeing her slicing strawberries at the counter.

"I said, what are you having on yours?" Gabriella looked up from the strawberries, shooting Troy the smile that made his knees weak.

"I'll have strawberries and cream too, here let me help," Troy said, sliding behind Gabriella, taking the knife from her hands and slicing up the strawberries for her, picking up a slice and offering it to her, a shiver running though his body as she accepted the fruit, sucking gently on his fingers to get the juice off them.

Gabriella smiled at him, this time not so innocently as she reached up to place a kiss on his lips. "Let's go eat."

Smiling back at her Troy picked up the plate of strawberries, letting Gabriella take the bowl of whipped cream to the living room where they each set down what they were carrying before sitting at opposite ends of the sofa.

"Come on, El!" Troy teased, holding his arms open to her. "You can sit much closer, I don't bite."

"Unless I want you to, right?" Gabriella teased back, shuffling along until she was curled into Troy's side.

Gabriella allowed Troy to put the toppings on her waffle before he started to feed her the now rolled up waffle, taking a bite from the other end for every bite she took.

"Is this like the adult version of Lady and The Tramp?" Gabriella asked as the waffle between them disappeared, their lips growing closer with each bite.

"Nah," Troy replied, placing a kiss upon Gabriella's lips. "Adults can kiss whenever they like."

After some time the waffles had been eaten, but still no movie had been agreed upon.

"It's my house, so I should get to choose," Gabriella half heartedly argued, no longer caring what movie they ended up watching, just wanting to see if she could get Troy to give into her.

"I think it's guests choose," Troy teased. "So that, Miss Montez means we should watch Cabin Fever."

"Do you want me to have nightmares?" Gabriella put on a small pout, looking up at Troy, watching as his eyes softened, his arms tightening around her waist.

"Of course not, El. We'll watch Hairspray," Troy relented, waving his hand in the direction of the tv. "Go put it on, gorgeous."

Gabriella happily got up from the sofa and found the disc, putting it in the dvd player before she settled back with Troy, her head on a pillow he had placed in his lap, his fingers running gently through her curls as she was lulled to sleep by his smell and touch, and the voice of Zac Efron.

**I couldn't help the Zac Efron comment (was listening to Ladies Choice when I wrote that actually), next up, more Lucy drama ensures (anyone who can guess her plan wins a cyber cookie!). Don't forget to review :)!**


	19. Be With You

**So just a little thing before I let you go on to read this, my Zanessa stories have all now been removed, I have uploaded 2 to The Music In Me (link on my profile) under LongHardRdOuttaHell, and the other group of oneshots will be uploaded to there within the next few days. That will also be where I will upload any of my future Zanessa stories, since I don't want to have my account frozen on here or anything.**

**So this chapter is quite long, because I had several extra days to add to it thanks to my banning, and a few important things happen, so pay attention! Don't forget to review and with some luck the next chapter will be up by the end of the weekend!  
**

Gabriella woke up the next morning to the feel of something gliding across her left wrist, something smooth and soft but yet gently prickling her skin at the same time. Her eyes fluttered open as the movement against her wrist continued as she blinked rapidly at the intruding brightness that filled the room.

"Morning, gorgeous," Troy's breath tickled Gabriella's skin, watching as her dark lashes fluttered over her sleepy chocolate brown eyes as she slowly woke up, realizing where she was and who she was with.

"Mm, morning," Gabriella replied softly, shifting slightly until she was closer to Troy, her eyes adjusting to him to see his lips poised just above her wrist, a clear give away to the smooth, soft movement against her skin, and as she reached out to cup his face and give him a good morning kiss her fingertips were met with the slight stubble that graced his face, which had been prickling her skin when she had awoken.

Troy tilted his head until his lips met Gabriella's, pressing against her full lips softly before nibbling gently on her bottom lip, causing a gentle sigh to escape her mouth.

"Sleep well?" He muttered against her lips, sliding his tongue out to slip inside her mouth, teasingly darting back out again as Gabriella's tongue started to move to caress his own.

"Amazingly well," Gabriella replied, rolling herself on top of Troy, nudging her nose against his. "Sorry for falling asleep watching the movie"

"It's okay, I had fun watching that hunky Zac Efron by myself," He teased, bringing a hand up to play with her curls.

"Should I be jealous?" Gabriella purred her eyes dancing with amusement as Troy tangled his hand in her hair, drawing her mouth back towards his once more.

"Nah, next time I'll let you join in," He whispered against her lips, her soft giggled reply quickly turning into a muffled moan as Troy's tongue slipped inside her mouth, dancing a well choreographed dance with her own.

Pulling apart, panting Gabriella look over at the alarm clock on her bedside table, noting it was almost 1pm.

"Taylor and Shar will probably be home soon," She said regretfully, not wanting to share Troy for the rest of the day, enjoying being wrapped up in his arms far too much.

"I knew there was something I had to tell you. Your girls and my guys have gone to the movies. Taylor called this morning to let us know they won't be home til around 5 tonight," Troy remembered the phone call that had woken him from his slumber almost an hour earlier.

"You mean we have this whole house to ourselves for four whole hours?" Gabriella's eyes widened as she licked her bottom lip, staring down at Troy.

"We do, what do you suggest we do to kill time, Miss Montez?" Troy slid his hands down her back with his words, cupping her ass and gently giving it a squeeze.

"I was thinking, Mr. Bolton, that we never got to have our ice cream last night."

"You can't have ice cream for breakfast, Ella," Troy laughed.

"Well it's not breakfast time is it?" Gabriella reasoned. "I really, really feel like ice cream, Troy."

Laughing at the way Gabriella battered her eyelashes at him Troy nodded, "Ice cream it is, against my better judgment."

Gabriella giggled in response as she slid off Troy and out of bed, gesturing for him to follow her suit which he eagerly did, wrapping his arms around her waist as he joined her next to the bed, placing a kiss into her curls as he noticed a picture of a woman holding two bundles of white in her arms, smiling at her new babies.

"Is that your Mom?" Troy asked softly, tightening his grip on her as Gabriella nodded, picking up the photo and running her finger over the lady who looked so much like Gabriella herself.

"When me and Nathan were just born, before they found out that he was sick," Gabriella choked up a bit and Troy took the frame from her, placing it back on the bedside table before turning her to face him, sweeping her up in his arms, not wanting to see her cry.

"Aw, El," He muttered into her ear, his hand rubbing up and down her back as Gabriella fought back the tears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the day with my emotions," Gabriella apologized, glancing up at Troy, seeing the mutual hurt in his blue eyes.

"Nonsense, nothing is ruining, but we better get to that ice cream before I change my mind and make you eat oatmeal instead," Troy teased, lightning up the mood before he swept Gabriella into his arms bridal style and carried her out to the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen Troy settled Gabriella onto the counter placing a soft kiss on her nose which sent a small smile across her lips before he turned to locate the ice cream, coming up with two tubs.

"Mint chocolate chip, or cookies and cream?" Troy asked, holding up each tub as Gabriella's gaze shifted between the two.

"Mint. No cookies and cream. No wait," Gabriella rambled, pointing at first one tub and then the other before placing her finger on her bottom lip in thought.

"How about mint chocolate chip now and cookies and cream next time?" Troy reasoned, knowing Gabriella wouldn't be able to make the choice.

"Okay, but only if next time is later today?" Gabriella's giggle sound throughout the kitchen as Troy placed the tub of the chosen treat on the counter next to her before his fingertips found her sides, tickling her playfully until she distracted him with her mouth.

Gabriella broke off the kiss, resting her forehead against Troy's as they caught their breath.

"You're a cheat," Troy accused, breathlessly.

"But you love me," Gabriella retorted, her mouth dropping open as she realised what she'd said. "Um, let's just eat this in the living room?"

Gabriella fled the room quickly, leaving Troy to work out what she had just said, his mouth dropping open when he realised she had said the "L" word.

Troy felt a huge smile grace his face, knowing it was time they had a talk about where their relationship was heading, wanting to let her know that he was as serious about her as he hoped she was about him.

"Do you want something to drink, El?" Troy called out.

"Coffee?" Gabriella called back, her voice slightly shaky as she paced the living room.

Troy switched on the coffee machine before picking up the tub of ice cream and heading into the living room, chuckling as he saw Gabriella pacing, instantly knowing that she did indeed share his feelings.

Gabriella didn't notice Troy enter the room, place the ice cream on the coffee table and then make his way over to her.

"God Gabriella, you really put your foot in it this time," she muttered to herself.

"I don't think I've ever heard your full name before, except when Sharpay came screaming out of Zeke's restaurant the time we ran into each other," Troy's voice was light and teasing as he reached out for Gabriella who immediately accepted his embrace.

"It's not a name I like. Bad associations," Gabriella mumbled into his chest. "I'm sorry for what I said, Troy."

"You should only be sorry if you don't want me to be falling in love with you, Ella. Because I'm falling hard." Troy whispered, his grip on her waist tightening.

Gabriella was silent for a few seconds as she processed what Troy had said.

He was falling in love with her.

"Really?" Gabriella's voice was quiet and vulnerable sounding.

"Really, I was hoping you were feeling the same way?" Troy lead Gabriella to the couch, sitting down and then pulling her onto his lap.

"I am. I just didn't think…." She trailed off, watching as Troy took the lid off the tub of ice cream, putting some of the mint flavoured treat onto a spoon and offering it to her.

"You didn't think what?" Troy prompted gently, taking a spoonful for himself as Gabriella struggled to find the right words to convey what she was feeling.

"There's so much you don't know about my past, Troy. I'm screwed up, how can you be falling in love with someone like me?" Gabriella said softly, lacing her fingers together tightly, a sure sign she was nervous.

"What isn't there to love about you? You're gorgeous, funny, and you make me feel like I've never felt before. I don't care about your past, baby," Troy reasoned, tilting Gabriella's chin up so her eyes met his. "I wouldn't let just anyone eat ice cream for breakfast."

Gabriella giggled softly, loving the way Troy could be serious yet playful at the same time, making their somber discussions a lot more bearable.

"We're just missing the coffee," Gabriella whispered, kissing Troy gently.

"Well you see, there's this gorgeous girl on my lap and I can't get up to make the coffee," Troy teased, nudging her neck with his nose.

Gabriella wriggled off his lap, taking the spoon from his hand before she gestured to the kitchen.

"Problem solved," she giggled, helping herself to another spoon of ice cream.

"You're lucky you're cute," Troy threatened as he left the room. "Or I wouldn't do your bidding for you."

"You're all talk, Bolton."

"Shut up, Montez." The sound of Gabriella's laugh drifted through to the kitchen, and Troy sighed in relief at the sound, hoping that he had eased her worries for the time being, knowing that a can of worms had been opened with the comments about her past, but deciding to save that for another time. He really didn't want to waste their day together with serious conversations, preferring to lavish her with attention and love.

"Make me," came the late reply and Troy shook his head. Now that was a request he was all too happy to obey.

---

"That Karl is really a nice piece of ass," Sharpay commented as the three girls sat watching Love Actually later that night.

"He's fiiine," Taylor agreed.

"Don't you two have boyfriends now?" Gabriella asked, in her mind comparing the half naked body on screen to that of Troy's, deciding that her boyfriend's was much nicer to look at, and touch, and taste and… well just generally better.

"Doesn't mean we can't look," Taylor laughed.

"That's the rules, have a boyfriend so you can look but you can't touch," Sharpay agreed.

"I'm sure the two of you would love if Chad and Zeke had the same outlook and you caught them ogling another girl," Gabriella teased.

"What they don't know won't hurt them, Gab," Taylor commented.

"Exactly. So what did you and lover boy get up to?" Sharpay asked.

"Don't call him that, Shar. He has a name," Gabriella said, avoiding the question.

"Sorry. Troy. You're so picky sometimes," Sharpay scoffed, causing Taylor and Gabriella to burst out laughing.

"It's weird when you call him that, it makes me feel awkward!" Gabriella protested, hoping to have distracted Sharpay.

"Whatever, so what'd you two love birds get up to?" Sharpay asked again.

"Watched a movie last night and then just… hung out this afternoon," Gabriella tried to give no details, hoping that would be enough for Sharpay, but the blonde wasn't satisfied.

"Why did you pause? Did you finally let Lover Boy take your goodies?" Sharpay asked bluntly.

"Shar!" Gabriella cried out, her dark eyes widening and her cheeks reddening at her friend's blunt question.

"Shar, give the girl a break. We'll know when Troy gets his rocket in her socket, she'll be _glowing_," Taylor teased, making Gabriella blush even more at the crude sexual analogy used by her friend.

"You two! I'm not badgering you about your sex lives," Gabriella exclaimed. "I'm going to go take a shower."

"So you can relive the memories of you and Troy in there this morning?" Came the singsong tease from Sharpay.

"We didn't have sex in the shower, Sharpay," Gabriella scolded.

"Well if you did it in the kitchen I hope you washed the counter well," the blonde laughed.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, deciding that Sharpay wasn't going to let up, and she got up off the couch, heading towards the bathroom.

"Oh Shar, I forgot to mention. We had sex in your bed, and I didn't change the sheets," Gabriella was satisfied when she heard the shriek of her blonde friend, making sure she was in the bathroom with the door safely locked when Sharpay came banging, demanding to know if Gabriella was telling the truth.

----

Later that night, after convincing Sharpay that her bed was not tainted and then having dinner with her and Taylor, Gabriella was heading to bed, wanting to call Troy and see how the rest of his afternoon had gone before she went to sleep.

Gabriella dialed the number and Troy picked up on the second ring.

"Hey gorgeous," was his greeting, making Gabriella's heart soar.

"Hey yourself," she teased. "What are you up to?"

"Just about to hit Chad and then go to bed so I can talk to you," Troy said with a soft laugh, hitting the back of Chad's head as he spoke. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just missed you," Gabriella admitted. "Sharpay and Taylor keep hounding me about details of last night and it makes me think about it."

"Aw, baby," Troy sympathized. "I know what you mean about the hounding, Chad hasn't let up all night. He thinks I put my rocket in your socket." Troy remembered their conversation when Troy had got home from Gabriella's.

_Flashback_

"_So how was she?" Chad asked excitedly, bouncing around Troy as he rolled his eyes, heading for his bedroom._

"_What do you mean?" Troy slipped his tshirt over his head, throwing it in the direction of his laundry basket._

"_Ella, was she good?" Chad asked again, plopping himself down on Troy's bed, watching as Troy headed over to his dresser, finding clean basketball shorts and a wife beater._

"_She was fine, why? Was something wrong with her?" Troy asked, knowing what Chad was getting at, but not wanting to discuss it with him._

"_Dude, was she good when you had your rocket in her socket?" Chad exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air._

"_Wouldn't know, didn't happen," Troy replied casually. "I'm going to take a shower."_

"_It didn't happen?" Chad asked, getting off the bed and following Troy towards the bathroom. "What do you mean it didn't happen?"_

"_Simple. It. Did. Not. Happen." Troy said, turning around to face his large haired best friend. "And even if it did I wouldn't be telling you the details."_

_Smirking Troy stepped into the bathroom, locking the door behind him as he heard Chad call out to Zeke._

"_He didn't get his rocket in her socket, Z!"_

"That's what Tay said to me!" Gabriella giggled. "They were obviously having a great time discussing us."

"That's really disturbing," Troy said, screwing up his nose slightly. "Are you in bed?"

"Yeah, are you?" Gabriella asked, stifling a yawn.

"I just got in, sleepy?"

"A little. I have work early tomorrow, double shift."

"Why aren't you asleep yet, then?" Troy asked, shifting in his bed so he was laying down, the covers pulled up to his stomach.

"I wanted to talk to you?" Gabriella offered, turning onto her side, pulling the blankets up to cover more of her body.

"You're crazy, El," Troy teased. "I hope you're at least attempting to fall asleep right now."

"Mmhm," Gabriella confessed, yawning loudly. "What are you doing for Thanksgiving?"

"Staying here, my parents' 30th wedding anniversary is that weekend so they're going to Hawaii for that," Troy replied, referring to the holiday that was less than two weeks away. "What about you?"

"Staying here as well," Gabriella didn't give her reasoning behind it and Troy decided it was best not to probe any further.

"Well maybe we should have our own Thanksgiving, together," Troy suggested and he swore he could hear the smile spread across Gabriella's face.

"Really?" Gabriella asked, "Taylor and Sharpay are going home for it, so my apartment would be empty for a few days."

"So is mine, Chad and Zeke are going home also," Troy replied. "You need to get some sleep though, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"I'm not," Gabriella started, cut off by another large yawn. "Sleepy."

"Lies, go to sleep, beautiful," Troy said with a soft laugh. "Sweet dreams."

"You too," Gabriella replied, feeling sleep wash over her as Troy's soft voice filled her mind.

"I always do when they're about you," Troy whispered before hanging up the phone.


	20. A Visitor

**A/N: Okay, here it is. It's a poor excuse for a extremely late chapter, but this kicked my ass so badly that I was about to just give up on this story, no lie. As some of you will know I co-wrote a Christmas story in December (check it out if you haven't yet, All I want, under the profile of walkingproof), and we were doing daily updates (which we ended up writing each day before we posted), and when we were finished my brain just didn't want to have a bar of writing for this story.**

**So thus I have been completely slack with my update, but here it is, the start of something... drama filled :). I hope you all enjoy it, and don't throw rotten vegetables at me in your reviews!  
**

Gabriella had just got home from a long day at the hospital when she heard a knock at the door, signaling Troy was there to pick her up for a date night at his house.

"Hey babe," he greeted when she opened the door, pulling her body to his in a tight hug.

"Hey you, sorry I'm not ready, but you can come in and wait while I have a quick shower, right?" Gabriella asked, getting a tad flustered.

"Of course, go and shower, I can wait," Troy reassured her with a soft peck on her lips, watching her as she hurried to the bathroom before he settled down on the nearest armchair.

A high-pitched squeal brought him out of his thoughts about what the night would bring.

Groaning, Troy looked up to see Sharpay standing in the doorway of the kitchen, a smirk on her lips.

"What are you doing out here, lover boy, all unguarded?" Sharpay asked as she strolled into the living room, dropping down onto the couch across from Troy.

"Um, waiting for Ella to shower?" Troy more questioned than answered, being slightly afraid of the blonde who was looking at him like he was a hunt of meat to be devoured.

"I can see why Gabs is so… fond of you," Sharpay commented seriously. "You're not bad on the eyes."

"Um... thanks?" Troy replied, squirming in his seat which pleased Sharpay.

The pair sat in an uncomfortable silence with Sharpay just smirking at Troy until Gabriella came out of the bathroom dressed in white knee length skirt and a pink top drying her curls with her towel as she worked.

She spotted Troy looking very uncomfortable and Sharpay looking happy with herself and she groaned gently.

"Troy?" She asked into the silent room and Troy's eyes snapped up at the sound of her musical voice. "Come with me?"

Troy was more than glad to accept her offer, practically running across the room, away from Sharpay and following Gabriella into her bedroom.

"Sorry, I forgot Shar was home, she was nice wasn't she?" Gabriella asked as she dropped her towel to the floor, positioning herself in front of Troy, her arms reaching up to lace around his neck.

"She's scary," Troy pouted, kissing Gabriella softly, feeling her press her body up closer to his.

"Poor baby," Gabriella whispered as they broke apart only for Troy to attach his lips to her neck, kissing the skin gently.

"You gunna make me feel better?" He whispered against her skin and Gabriella shivered at his words.

"Always," she whispered back, bringing his face to her own, kissing him zealously until they were both out of breath.

"Are you two leaving soon or what?" Sharpay's loud voice came through the door. "Zeke is gunna be here in a few minutes."

"In a minute, Shar," Gabriella called back softly, placing another gentle kiss on Troy's lips before she slipped away from him, putting on some lip-gloss and then slipping on her shoes before she was ready to go. "We don't want to be around when Zeke gets here, trust me."

Troy laughed as he took Gabriella's hand, leading her out of the room and into the living room where Sharpay already had Zeke trapped against the wall, her hands making quick work of his belt.

"Let's go," Troy instructed, pulling Gabriella quickly through the living room and out into the safe corridor.

"I told you so," Gabriella giggled as they stood waiting for the elevator. "They were practically naked in the kitchen when I got home from work yesterday."

"Your poor eyes," Troy teased sympathetically. "Luckily I'm such a nice boyfriend that I'm saving you from that tonight, huh?"

Gabriella let Troy press her back up against the side of the elevator as he engaged her lips in a teasing kiss, stopping only when the sound of someone clearing their throat filled the elevator when they reached the lobby.

Blushing lightly Gabriella giggled as Troy pulled her through the front doors and out to his car where he quickly used his body to trap her against the passenger door, his lips kissing every inch of her face before settling on her lips.

Both were too wrapped up in each other to notice Lucy sitting in her car just down the street, having followed Troy to Gabriella's apartment. She watched as the pair broke apart, huge smiles on their faces as Troy helped Gabriella in the car before going around to the other side and letting himself in and then driving off in the direction of his apartment.

Lucy made sure to keep enough distance between her car and Troy's so that he didn't notice her.

"Good day at work?" Troy asked softly as he took Gabriella's hand in his own, lacing their fingers and squeezing gently.

He smiled as Gabriella chatted proudly about a baby whose life had been saved because of her detective skills working out his mysterious illness.

"That's great, babe," Troy praised as he pulled into the parking building of his apartment, leaning over to kiss her cheek softly as he smiled at her.

"Thanks," Gabriella blushed, her sparkling eyes locking on Troy's for a moment, a look of love exchanged between the two.

"Let's go inside, I'm making you chicken fettuccine for dinner," he said excitedly and Gabriella couldn't help but laugh at him, kissing his lips as he pouted at her.

---

Half an hour later and the pair hadn't made a start on dinner. Instead they were satisfying a need other than hunger, a must more lustful need.

Gabriella was flat on her back on the soft cushions of Troy's couch. Her t-shirt was discarded on the floor along with Troy's t-shirt and his jeans, having all become barriers holding the couple back from their needs.

Gasping as Troy's hands slipped under her skirt to tease her through her white lace panties, Gabriella pulled him back down to her, his bulge pressing urgently against her thigh as their lips joined once more in a rough yet passionate kiss.

"Troy… please," Gabriella whimpered as Troy dipped the tip of his finger into her through her panties.

Knowing that he couldn't resist her pleas Troy shifted aside her panties before he slowly slid two fingers into her, his erection growing harder as her muscles contracted around his invading fingers.

All Troy could think about was how good she'd feel around him when they decided to have sex, her damp walls were already clenching his fingers, and Troy knew that he'd fit snug in her body.

"Does that feel good, baby?" Troy asked breathlessly and Gabriella nodded her head quickly, a moan escaping as Troy sped up his movements.

"Mmm… god… Troy," Gabriella gasped, feeling the fire building in her stomach.

"Faster?" Troy asked against the skin of her neck, know that's what she wanted, but wanting to hear her gasp out her wishes.

"Faster," Gabriella agreed before a string of cussing left her mouth as the fire swept through her body, exploding in her core, making her whole body shake with pleasure.

"That's it, baby," Troy muttered in her ear, slowing his ministrations down ever so slightly as to not overwhelm her, but to draw her orgasm out for as long as possible.

As she came off her high Gabriella caught Troy's lips with her own again, slipping her hand into his cotton boxers and teasing her thumb over his sensitive tip.

Troy's groan was interrupted midway through by the front door of the apartment being slammed open. The pair broke the kiss and turned to see who was there.

"Lucy?" Troy asked in surprise.

"Hello Troy," Lucy said sweetly before she marched across the room to stand next to the couch which held Troy and Gabriella. "Get off my boyfriend, you slut!"

Gabriella looked quickly between Troy and Lucy before scrambling out from under Troy, grabbing her t-shirt from the floor and tugging it over her head as she hurried towards where her bag was laying.

Without a backwards glance she was gone from Troy's sight.

This left Troy with a very evident bulge.

And a smirking ex-girlfriend.


	21. An Explanation

**A/N: I know, another update so soon! I hope nobody fell off their chair in shock. The reviews last chapter were amazing, I'm glad so many people are still on board, despite my anything but regular updates, but it really helped me to get this chapter written so fast, knowing I had so much support.**

**So this story has five more chapters to go after this one. It's drawing to and end, but there's still a bit more to go before we can wrap things up. I'm working on a new story, which I have added a banner and preview to my page for. It'll be called Mirror for the Sun, and I'll start posting it a few weeks after I finish this one up. So check that out and feel free to mention it in your review, or PM me about it, if you have any comments or questions.  
**

**Okay enough rambling from me, here is the latest chapter, don't forget to review :)**

Not caring that he was currently only wearing underwear, Troy leapt from the couch after Gabriella, seeing her step into the elevator as he got to his doorway, the doors closing as Troy took in her heartbroken look.

A huge part of Troy wanted to chase after her, to race down the stairs and meet her in the lobby, but a tiny rational part of his brain knew that he needed to deal with Lucy first.

As he re-entered his apartment Troy spotted Lucy sitting casually on the couch that he and Gabriella had – not even five minutes earlier – been making out on. The sight of her made Troy want to scream out in frustration, but he managed to keep his anger in check, well mostly.

"What that _fuck_ was that?" He snarled, pacing in front of Lucy. "You come into MY apartment and yell MY girlfriend after all you've fucking done to me. You have some nerve."

"She's not right for you, Troy," Lucy insisted. "She doesn't know you like I do."

"She doesn't know me? Gabriella may not know everything about me, but at least she doesn't fuck another man behind my back for a year," Troy spat out.

But Lucy was unfazed by Troy's words.

"But now she thinks you're cheating on her," Lucy pointed out. "Well I must be off now."

Lucy stood up to exit but Troy sprung in front of her, holding her wrists in his hands as he stared down at her.

"That's it? What were you even fucking here for, Lucy?" Troy was beyond angry at this point, all rational thoughts were gone from his mind.

Lucy ignored Troy's question, pulling herself free from his grip before she hightailed out of the apartment, leaving a suddenly exhausted Troy to collapse down onto the couch, his head resting in his hands as he wondered how hard it was going to be to fix this all with Gabriella.

He knew that by now she would be back home, where Taylor and Chad would now be, as well as Sharpay and Zeke.

_Shit,_ he thought, Sharpay and Taylor were going to kill him if they thought he was cheating on Gabriella. He only hoped the girls would listen to Chad and Zeke who knew the full story behind Lucy.

Quickly picking up his phone he dialed Zeke's cell phone, rubbing his neck nervously as he waited for his friend to answer.

"Troy? What happened with Ella?" Zeke asked worriedly. "Shar and Taylor are in with her now, she was really upset when she got home."

"Zeke, hear me out man. Lucy turned up and told Ella to get off me because I was her boyfriend," Troy started to explain.

"Why didn't you run after her?" Zeke asked, knowing that Troy was falling for Gabriella and would never want to let her just run away.

"I did, but then I saw that she was crying, and I knew that she wouldn't listen to me, man," Troy pleaded with Zeke to believe him, thankful that he knew his friend would understand what he meant.

"I'm gunna talk to Chad, tell him what's happening and we'll tell Taylor and Shar, okay?" Zeke said, mouthing "Lucy" to Chad who groaned, wondering what his friend's ex had done now.

"I'm going to come over, I need to see Ella," Troy decided, already getting up off the couch, locating his clothes on the floor, struggling to pull his pants back on with only one hand.

"Troy, man, I don't think that's the best idea. Give Ella some time to get her head around this," Zeke reasoned. "Me and Chad will talk to the girls and then come home, there's a game on tonight right?"

Troy sighed, knowing that Zeke was right, but not wanting him to be right.

"Yeah, there's a game on in an hour, I guess I'll see you then," he said dejectedly, muttering a quick bye before tossing his phone angrily to the floor.

It was just like Lucy to ruin a perfectly good thing, first it was their relationship with her cheating, and now it was his relationship with Gabriella.

Troy let out a loud scream before heading to take a shower, letting the hot water scald his skin and take away some of his frustrations.

* * *

"He has a… a… another girlfriend," Gabriella sobbed into Taylor's shoulder, the only phrase she had uttered since she got home.

Taylor looked over at Sharpay who just shrugged her shoulders, neither understanding what this was about Troy's "other" girlfriend.

"Gabs, I'm sure he doesn't, you must've misunderstood," Sharpay offered, making Gabriella cry harder.

A soft knock on the door made the three turn to see who it was, seeing Zeke's dark face appear around the corner.

"Shar, can I talk to you for a second?" He asked cautiously, taking note of how upset Gabriella was, his heart going out to her, but also to Troy who he knew was equally upset.

"I'll be back in soon, Gabs," Sharpay promised, standing from the bed and heading to the door which Zeke opened for her to let her out.

"What is it? Have you talked to your asshole of a friend?" Sharpay snapped, feeling instantly bad for taking it out on Zeke, when it wasn't his fault.

"Listen to me before you say anything, Shar," Zeke begged his girlfriend, waiting for her to nod her agreement before continuing.

"Before Ella, Troy dated this girl, Lucy. They were together for a long time, but Lucy was dating another man as well, for around a year, and when Troy finally found out, he just stopped taking her calls, refusing to see her and everything, he wanted nothing to do with her. He was still getting over her when he met Ella, and I swear, the night he met her, he forgot completely about Lucy. Today Lucy turned up at our apartment, and told Ella to get off her boyfriend."

"You expect me to believe that his ex girlfriend would be cruel enough to do something like that?" Sharpay interrupted. "My best friend is in there crying her heart out because your boy is a jerk."

"Shar, listen to me. Lucy is Troy's ex. He has no feelings for her. Troy would've explained this to her personally, but

"Gabs took off without letting Troy explain?" Sharpay finished up, guilt sweeping over her as she realized that her comments about Troy had been way out of line. "Kinda like I didn't let you explain just then."

"Exactly. The guy is cut up, Shar. Ella is where his heart is now one hundred percent," Zeke promised, looking over at Chad to get him to confirm the statement.

"The guy is whipped," Chad supplied, bring a small smile to Sharpay's face.

"We're gunna go home to Troy, unless you want us to explain to Ella?" Zeke said, drawing Sharpay into a tight hug.

"I'll talk to her," Sharpay promised, reaching up to place a kiss on Zeke's cheek. "Just let Troy know that Gabs has huge trust issues, it's time he knew about everything that has made Gabs who she is today, but that's up to her to tell him."

Zeke nodded. "I'll tell him, ring me later?"

When Zeke and Chad arrived home, Troy was fast asleep on his bed, dressed in just a pair of black sweats, clutching the sweatshirt Gabriella had left behind.

The guys noticed how sad Troy looked, even fast asleep and they knew that if Gabriella didn't believe the truth about Lucy, their best friend was going to be crushed beyond belief.

They only hoped their girlfriends could be convincing enough to get her to believe the truth, to get her to overcome the trust issues Sharpay had mentioned and let Troy into her heart.

* * *

After Zeke and Chad had left, Sharpay had gone back to Gabriella and Taylor, relaying Zeke's explanation, and Taylor had been horrified that someone would go to such lengths to try to ruin another person's relationship.

Gabriella had not believed Sharpay at first, finding it easier to believe that Troy, like almost everyone else in her life, had lied to her and broke her trust.

But when Sharpay mentioned how sweet Troy was, and all of the sweet things he had done for her since they met, Gabriella had relented, knowing deep down in her heart that Troy was indeed falling in love with her, just as she was for him.

Gabriella admitted to herself that she was so scared of getting hurt, like she had been so many times in the past that she was finding it hard to trust him, to let down all of her guards.

Especially the ones Troy had no idea existed.

"I guess it's time to tell him about my parents," Gabriella said softly, her voice all husky from the crying. "I'm falling in love with him."

Sharpay and Taylor both gasped and then let out squeals of happiness, engulfing Gabriella in a hug.

"So it's time to lay everything on the table?" Taylor asked softly, realizing how hard this was going to be for Gabriella to do.

"He'll either accept my past, or run screaming," Gabriella sighed. She understood that for her relationship with Troy to get any more serious, she had to be completely honest with him, to fill in all the gaps about her parents and her childhood.

She knew it would be hard, but she also knew that she wasn't going to let her past get in the way of a future with Troy, no way in hell was she letting that happen.


	22. A Breakthrough

**A/N: So here is the chapter I have been waiting to write since I started this story! It's pretty heavy, but it should clear up a few questions relating to Gabriella and the way she acts and thinks! I'm super nervous about this chapter, so if you liked it, remember to let me know!  
**

**Chapters left (not including this one): 3 chapters and an epilogue.  
**

Gabriella tugged nervously on the hem of her white singlet top as she waited for Troy to open his apartment door. She had called him at 2am, surprised that he answered the phone after only two rings.

_*flashback*_

"_Ella?" Came Troy's exhausted sounding greeting as he answered the phone._

_Gabriella felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of his voice, taking a second to take a deep breath before she started her rambling._

"_Troy? We need to talk, well I need to talk," she started, biting down on her lip as she tried to stop her voice from quivering. "Can I see you tomorrow?"_

_Troy's heart felt like it had stopped beating when Gabriella had said they needed to talk, he knew that was the classic line for a serious talk, something that didn't often lead to a good outcome._

"_Sure," Troy replied nervously. "About today, Ella."_

"_Troy?" Gabriella cut him off. "Can we just talk about everything tomorrow, please?"_

"_Okay," Troy replied defeated. "Come over at 10?"_

"_I'll be there, good night," Gabriella felt a tear slide down her cheek at the sadness lingering in Troy's voice. She hoped after they talked tomorrow things could start getting back on track, that was if he could handle her past._

"_Night El, I... I…" Troy wanted to tell her that he loved her, but he decided that while they had so much between them it wasn't the best idea. "I'll see you tomorrow," he finished lamely._

_*End flashback*_

Troy took a deep breath before he opened the apartment door, revealing to him his very nervous, but still completely adorable girlfriend.

"Hey," he said, his voice shaking slightly. He wanted desperately to draw her into his arms, but he wasn't sure of her reaction, giving the events from the day before.

Gabriella took a few quick steps forward, catapulting herself into Troy's arms, burying her face into his neck as the tears started to flow.

Carefully Troy lifted Gabriella bridal style into his arms, letting her arms tighten around his neck as he carried her into his apartment, quickly setting down on the couch with Gabriella curled up in his lap.

"Shh, baby," he whispered into Gabriella's hair, his large hands rubbing her back to calm her down.

"I'm sorry," Gabriella choked out, moving back from Troy slightly, her watery brown eyes meeting with Troy's worried blues.

Troy softly wiped Gabriella's tears from her cheeks with his thumb, a soft smile settling against his lips as Gabriella stopped crying.

"El, please don't apologise," he begged. "I just want to forget yesterday happened, we can talk about it if you want, but then I want to never think about it again."

Gabriella shook her head. "I don't really want to talk about it either," she confessed. "I shouldn't of ran out on you like that, Troy. But…."

"Yeah?" Troy coaxed.

"I'm going to do something I've never done before," Gabriella admitted softly. "I'm going to tell you about my childhood."

Troy nodded gently, almost afraid to speak and scare Gabriella out of her confession.

"Please don't say anything until I'm finished?" Gabriella asked, looking up at Troy who was watching her curiously.

"Okay," Troy whispered, tightening his arms around her waist as he waited for her to work out how she was going to tell him what she needed to tell him.

"So you know that I had a twin, Nathan, right?" Gabriella started out slowly, watching Troy nod before she continued. "So he was born with heart problems, and he died when we were six days old. My father blamed my Mom for Nathan's death, he said that she could have taken better care of him, or done things differently in her pregnancy."

Troy could understand Gabriella's Dad's reaction at that point, finding someone to blame was a natural human instinct.

"I don't remember much until I was about five, but in my files it says that my Mom suffered from heavy depression, from Nathan's death, and my Father was an alcoholic…" Gabriella trailed off for a few seconds, taking some deep breaths, feeling Troy's hand seek out her own, entwining their fingers tightly.

Wondering briefly what files Gabriella was meaning, but deciding she would get to that part he waited patiently for her to continue.

"He used to beat her. He attacked me twice and after that my Mom always got me to lock myself in my bedroom the nights he was drinking, so that he couldn't get me." The tears started up again and Gabriella bit her bottom lip at the memory, letting Troy pull her closer as she sobbed gently.

"I could always hear her, begging him," Gabriella got out. "She would plead for him to stop, and eventually he would, throwing her into a wall where she passed out most times from the pain."

"Baby," Troy whispered, but Gabriella interrupted him, furiously shaking her head to let him know that she needed to continue.

"Then he would come looking for me, Troy. I would have to listen to him pounding on my door, threatening to break in and get me, until he passed out in the hallway. When he started snoring I knew it was okay to creep out and help my Mom, clean up the blood, get her bandages and ice and help her into bed," Gabriella shuddered at the memory and Troy felt his own eyes well up with tears.

"One night when I was eight he came home, he hadn't been drinking much but he was in a rage because he'd been gambling and lost a ton of money. When my Mom started to reason with him and try to calm him down, he, he," Gabriella couldn't continue, the memory was still fresh in her mind.

She could remember everything about that night. The lingering smell of the chicken her and her Mom had for dinner, the moonlight shining in across her bed, making it impossible for her to have fallen asleep before her Dad got home, the sound of the front door slamming as he got inside, the sound of her cries.

"Ella, you don't have to," Troy started, but Gabriella nodded.

"I've never told anyone before, Troy," she confessed. "Sharpay and Taylor were my friends at school, so I had already told them about my Father's behaviour, and their parents read about the deaths in the newspaper."

Troy littered gentle kisses in Gabriella's hair as he waited for her to compose herself enough to continue. He had guessed the deaths Gabriella referred to were her parents deaths, and he was curious to find out how it happened.

"He shot her," Gabriella whispered suddenly, finding the courage to go on with her story. "Pulled out a gun and shot her, three shots to her chest and she was dead. I heard the shots, and I raced out to help my Mom, he saw me coming and started to fire the shots at me."

Gabriella pointed to the shoulder that was closest to Troy, pointing out a faint white scar that he hadn't noticed before, then she reached down and gently moved her pants down a fraction, showing a longer scar across her hip.

"A bullet went in this arm, and another one scraped along my hip, the pain was so bad, so intense that I fainted. I guess my Dad thought I was dead. As I came around I heard another round of shots, I waited for them to hit me, but instead I heard a heavy thud to the right of me, he had killed himself to get away with murder."

But this point Gabriella was gripping onto Troy's hand so tightly he was quite sure he was going to end up with a broken hand, but he was thankful she hadn't noticed his trembling, the thought of his girlfriend going through such a horrific event made him want to be sick, but to also hide her away somewhere, to protect her from any of the other bad in the world.

"I couldn't move, but I managed to pick up a dishcloth that was laying around and I pressed it to my arm, remembering my Mom stemming the blood flow when I had sliced open my leg once. I waited all night, sure my Father was only faking and that he'd sit up any second and make sure I was killed like my Mom. The next morning I didn't turn up to school, and they sent an officer around because I had been missing a lot of days. He came in the unlocked door and found me laying there, paralyzed with fear between the bodies of my parents."

Troy was silent with shock, he couldn't understand how she had gone through such an event and be sitting with him, relatively unharmed.

"I lived in four different children's homes for the next ten years, my parents were only children, and all my grandparents had died when I was young, Shar and Tay were my only friends, they're the only people who I have ever let myself get close to," she confessed. "Before you came along."

Troy didn't care if it was inappropriate to do, but he had to feel her lips against his, to try and portray to Gabriella that he cared so deeply for her, that he didn't care about her past, just their future.

Letting her lips move gently in time with Troy's, Gabriella felt her head spin at the feelings he invoked in her, feelings she was sure had died along with her parents, the feelings of love and security, of hope and promise.

Breaking the soft kiss, Troy shifted on the couch until he was laying down, pulling Gabriella down into his embrace, smiling as she instantly yawned, knowing she would be mentally exhausted from reliving her childhood.

Before long, Gabriella had drifted into one of the most peaceful sleeps she'd had since she was young. Troy gently moved her curls off her face, his eyes taking in every inch of her, knowing how lucky he was to have her, to have had that instant connection with her the night in the club.

Troy was sure that Gabriella had wanted to track him down so much because she had felt something with him she had never been able to find in a guy before, a tiny sense of trust, that she was fighting hard to build into a safe haven of security and trust.

As he watched his girlfriend sleep peacefully in his arms Troy yawned himself, closing his eyes as he pulled Gabriella closer to him, knowing he would never give her up without a fight, vowing to himself to protect her forever more, from the smallest worries in life to her troubled memories of childhood past.

* * *

Gabriella woke some few hours later, feeling Troy's strong arms around her waist before she was aware of anything else.

Slowly letting her dark eyes flutter open she gazed at her boyfriend, feeling finally at ease that she had shared her dark past with him. She hoped now he could understand her insecurities, her reluctance to have been involved in any past relationships, and one day, to understand why she had chosen him to give her entire self to.

Unable to resist, Gabriella reached up and drew Troy's head down closer to hers, brushing their lips together gently, causing Troy to stir, his dark lashes opening to show her the bright blue eyes that she got lost in, the eyes that she could see herself waking up to every morning for the rest of her life, that she could see their children possessing, and one day, their grandchildren.

"Hey," Troy whispered softly, nudging his nose against Gabriella's, causing her to release a gently giggle.

"Hey," she replied, finally feeling at ease with herself, with Troy, and most importantly with her past.


	23. The First of Many

**A/N: So yet another late chapter, but university, work, breathing, eating and then breaking your fingers doesn't make for an easily written chapter lol. This chapter also kicked my ass a little, I was so determined to get it right, because it's an important point of their relationship. Hopefully you are all still around, and you leave a review, I hear they make broken bones heal faster ;)**

**All writing in italics is a flashback to earlier in the night.**

Troy paced nervously backwards and forwards across his living room, his ears straining for the sound of someone arriving on his floor, but not just anyone, Troy was waiting for Gabriella to arrive, so they could spend Thanksgiving weekend together.

Since Gabriella had broken down her walls and told Troy about her childhood, Troy had been beyond eager for this weekend to happen, this weekend that he planned to show Gabriella how much she meant to him, how much she had changed his life in such a short period of time.

Troy had everything ready, a lasagne was cooked in the oven, prepared by Zeke, and Troy just had to reheat it when him and Gabriella were ready to eat. There were movies ready by the tv in the living room, the sheets on his bed had been changed and he'd even picked the clothes up from his bedroom floor.

It was official, Troy felt like a teenager having his girlfriend around to his house for the first time, and he just hoped that Gabriella would arrive quickly, before he went crazy.

As the thought flashed through his mind, footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway outside the apartment. Troy froze mid-step, his heart pounding so much that he was sure Gabriella would be able to hear it from outside.

Before Gabriella had time to ring the bell, Troy pulled the front door open, his face splitting into a wide grin as his eyes settled upon his girlfriend.

Gabriella's giggles filled the air as Troy swept her into his arms, burying his face in her neck as he held her tight.

"Do you know how long today was, waiting for you?" Troy muttered gruffly in Gabriella's ear.

"As long as my day was waiting to come to see you?" Gabriella guessed as Troy finally set her back down on her feet, smiling at her response.

"You look beautiful," Troy whispered, his hands settling against Gabriella's hips as he kicked the front door closed before pressing Gabriella up against it.

"Thank you," Gabriella blushed, her breath hitching in her throat as Troy's tongue snaked out to lick lightly at the pulse at the bottom of her neck. "Mmm, Troy."

Less than a minute later and Troy's teeth and lips had joined in the attack on Gabriella's smooth neck, leaving a trail of bite marks and tiny bruises in their wake as they made their way up to her ear where he whispered gently.

"You realise nobody is going to interrupt us for two whole days?" His breath tickled Gabriella's ear as he whispered, making her shiver involuntarily, a giggle escaping her mouth. "Do you want a drink or something?"

"Please, but I'll get it," Gabriella offered, unwrapping her arms from Troy's neck. "Do you want something?"

"There's beer and wine in the refrigerator," Troy remembered out loud. "I'll have a beer, please."

"Okay," Gabriella replied simply, realising she was still pinned up against the front door. "Troy?"

Troy looked down at his girlfriend, laughing as he too realised that she was unable to go to the kitchen when his body was still tightly pressed up against her own.

"Sorry, baby," Troy laughed, releasing Gabriella's body and taking a step back to let her past him. "Meet me in the living room?"

Gabriella gave a short nod before she set off to the kitchen, leaving Troy to watch her retreating form, a lazy smile settling over his face as he thought about what the weekend could bring.

* * *

Troy could hear Gabriella humming quietly in the kitchen as she got their drinks, and the sound made Troy's smile stretch even wider than it already was, nobody could make him feel happier than the simple things that Gabriella did.

Before long, Gabriella returned with a glass of wine in one hand and Troy's bottle of beer in the other.

"Should I be worried that you have an extremely good taste in wine?" Gabriella teased as she sat down next to Troy, passing him the beer as she did so.

"It tastes good?" Troy asked. "I'm not much of a wine drinker, you know, since I'm a man and all."

"It's amazing," Gabriella giggled, taking a mouthful of the liquid and closing her eyes as she tasted the sweetness. "You wanna try some?"

As Gabriella's eyes opened back up she was met with Troy swooping down to capture her lips in a eager kiss, his tongue wasting no time to part Gabriella's full lips, sliding inside and tasting the sweetness of the wine on Gabriella's mouth.

The feeling of Troy's tongue flicking against her own, and his tongue darting into every crevice of her mouth made Gabriella moan gently, the wine glass dropping from her hand, the wine spilling across her.

"Mmm, Troy," Gabriella whispered as Troy's mouth left her own, starting a downward journey, licking the wine off her golden skin as he made his way down her neck.

"I got it, baby," whispered Troy against her neck, his tongue lapping at her collarbone before his lips suckled gently at the spot, marking her flawless skin.

A throaty moan left Gabriella's mouth as Troy started unbuttoning her blouse, exposing her lace covered breasts to his eager lips.

The taste of Gabriella's skin mixed with the sweet taste of the wine was driving Troy crazy, his body reacting in all the right ways to Gabriella's soft moans escaping her lips and her curves pressing urgently against Troy's hard body.

Troy quickly came to realise that he needed to stop his actions before he lost control, he didn't think that having sex for the first time on the couch would be very romantic or memorable, unlike what he had planned for later that night.

Skimming his lips back up Gabriella's now sweaty skin, Troy whispered huskily in her ear. "Go have a shower, gorgeous, I'll finish preparing dinner."

Gabriella nodded weakly, her breath coming in quick bursts as she tried to get her feelings in check.

Sitting up, Troy then helped Gabriella up, brushing a sweet kiss against her swollen lips before he picked her up in his arms, carrying her to the bathroom.

"Troy?" Gabriella sung as Troy stood her back on her own feet on the tiled floor. "Could you please bring me my bag from the living room? And can I borrow one of your shirts?"

Shaking his head in amusement Troy kissed Gabriella's nose. "Didn't you bring your own clothes?" He teased light-heartedly.

"I did… but I like yours better," Gabriella confessed, her eyes gleaming mischievously as she raised herself up to suck lightly on Troy's earlobe. "Don't you like seeing me in your shirt?"

Troy groaned in reply, "you'll be the death of me, Ella."

"But what a way to go," Gabriella giggled, pecking Troy's lips before she stood back from his embrace, pointing out to the living room, indicating to Troy to get her bag.

"You're so bossy," Troy responded as he left the bathroom. "It's lucky you're cute."

* * *

Close to four house later and the shirt and boxers Troy had leant to Gabriella were discarded on his bedroom floor along with the clothes that Troy had been wearing, and the underwear of them both.

Troy and Gabriella were laying in a tangled heap under the blankets of Troy's bed, their bodies – which were covered in a layer of cool perspiration – were trembling with the events that had taken place over the past few hours.

_Gabriella gasped as she took the lid off the small box Troy had just wordlessly handed her, seeing a elegant silver heart locket sitting amongst the tissue paper._

"_Troy it's beautiful," Gabriella exclaimed, catapulting herself the short distance across the couch to Troy's arms, her lips gliding softly against Troy's own as her hand tightly gripped her new locket._

"_Open it," Troy demanded softly, watching Gabriella's shaking hands struggle to open the tiny clasp. When she finally managed to get it opened, she gasped at the contents, a tiny copy of the picture of Gabriella as a newborn baby with her Mom and brother._

"_Now you'll always have your family with you," Troy whispered gently, tucking a curl behind Gabriella's ear. "They'd be proud of you, Ella, of everything you've accomplished."_

_The pair's lips met again in another kiss, the love between them sparking as the kiss intensified in passion, Gabriella broke off the kiss, letting her lips kiss a line across to Troy's ear._

"_I want you Troy, tonight, right here, right now," Gabriella whispered confidently, shifting so she had her legs either side of Troy's, effectively straddling his waist._

_Troy didn't need words to answer her, instead his lips swept up to place a series of small, soft kisses across her forehead, slowly moving down to kiss every inch of Gabriella's smiling face._

_Needing to feel Troy's lips against her own, Gabriella tangled her fingers in Troy's soft hair, tugging at it gently until his lips were close enough to her own for her to capture him in a heated kiss, her tongue plunging into his mouth as she attempted to get her fix of Troy, knowing that there was no going back from the decision she had made._

_Troy didn't feel the need to take control of the kiss, for he knew that whatever Gabriella wanted, he wouldn't hesitate to give to her, or let her take it, and in this moment, she wanted to show him how much she needed him._

"_Bedroom," Gabriella ordered, looping her arms around Troy's neck, attaching her lips to the skin behind his ear and sucking harshly._

_Troy struggled to sit up, making sure that Gabriella was holding on tight around his neck he tucked one hand under her ass, the other resting on her back, keeping their bodies close together as he stood up._

_Instinctively, Gabriella wrapped her legs around Troy's waist, causing a delicious friction between their bodies that made Troy lose his footing, almost falling over but catching himself at the last second, making Gabriella's musical giggle fill his ears._

_As they got to Troy's bedroom door he suddenly remembered his plans for the night and quickly altered the plan to fit with the change of events._

"_Close your eyes, baby," Troy whispered against Gabriella's neck, his lips skimming across her racing pulse as he reached for the doorknob._

_It hadn't taken long for Troy to light the candles that were scattered around the room, and once Gabriella was allowed to open her eyes and she took in the softly lit room, scattered in rose petals she forgot about them, her soul focus being Troy and showing to him how much love she had for him._

_Clothes were quickly shed, hands and lips roaming over every inch of the other's body, soft mewls and groans becoming loud cries of pleasures and grunts of satisfaction as the exploring became more deliberate._

_Troy's fingers were curled inside of Gabriella, sliding in and out at the same pace as she was pumping his rock hard member. _

_A guttural groan slipped from Troy as Gabriella suddenly started pumping harder, her throaty voice ordering him to move his fingers faster._

_A handful of seconds later Gabriella's voice filled the air, "Troy, I'm gunna, oh god!" With her cry of pleasure Gabriella ceased her movements on Troy as her hands gripped at the blankets, her entire body stiffening as the first waves of her orgasm washed over her._

"_Let it go, baby," Troy coaxed, his fingers working to prolong Gabriella's pleasure, her cries turning to whimpers as her body trembled with the aftermath of her high._

I could spend my life in this sweet surrender  
I could stay lost in this moment forever

_It didn't take long before Gabriella remembered what she had been aiding Troy towards achieving, and with a playful smile she slid her body slowly down the bed, Troy's head snapping up to watch her curiously._

"_Ella," he started to ask his girlfriend what she was doing, but Gabriella shook her head, her curls brushing against the bare skin of Troy's thighs, sending a tremble throughout his body._

"_Shh," Gabriella whispered, lowering her mouth to Troy, kissing his tip gently._

_Troy had been so close only a few minutes earlier that it didn't take long before he was back to breaking point, trying to stop his hips from thrusting up to meet Gabriella's lips, but failing greatly._

"_Fuck, baby. Oh fuck, I'm so close," Troy warned, his fingers reaching down to tangle in Gabriella's hair as she coaxed his seed out into her waiting mouth. As soon as his body stopped quivering Troy pulled Gabriella onto him, his fingertips drawing circles on her lower back as the pair caught their breath._

Well, every moment spent with you  
Is a moment I treasure

Troy looked down at Gabriella as he thought about their first part of the exhausting but exhilarating and passionate night. Gabriella was fast asleep, her lashes fluttering against her cheeks as she took in steady deep breaths.

I don't wanna close my eyes  
I don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you, babe  
And I don't wanna miss a thing

Although he was beyond tired, Troy was more than happy to watch his girlfriend sleep peacefully, the thoughts of their mind-blowing union and confessions of love had Troy not wanting to take his eyes off the gorgeous girl draped across his chest.

'Cause even when I dream of you  
The sweetest dream will never do  
I'd still miss you, babe  
And I don't wanna miss a thing

_The couple had taken some time to enjoy basking in the afterglow of their orgasms, but slowly their touches had turned to teasing caresses, their lazy kisses more passionate, their breathing quickening as they got more and more in the moment._

_The sounds that escaped Gabriella's lips as Troy pressed himself into her for the first time were almost enough to throw him over the edge, but he restrained himself, letting Gabriella's body adjust to him inside of her, the task not taking long as Gabriella indicated by trying to shift her hips in desperation of movement._

Lying close to you  
Feeling your heart beating  
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming  
Wondering if it's me you're seeing

_Unlike all the plans that had been running through Troy's head in the previous few days, the feeling of being inside of Gabriella had his lingering on the edge of explosion very quickly. As Gabriella's muscles tightened around Troy in the most erotic of ways, Troy knew that he wasn't going to last much longer._

"_Baby, are you close?" Troy panted, slowing down his movements as he looked up at Gabriella, taking in her sweaty face, tangled hair and pink tinted skin._

"_Uh huh, faster, Troy, oh please!" Gabriella gasped in reply, hooking her leg around Troy's waist, letting him slip deeper into her._

_Troy wasn't about to deny Gabriella, and he quickly started thrusting faster into her, bringing them both to the point of no return within a few thrusts._

"_I love you," Gabriella whispered as her body trembled underneath Troy's, his own body quivering weakly._

"_I love you too, Ella," Troy whispered back, brushing a gentle kiss against Gabriella's forehead as he slipped out of her._

Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together  
And I just wanna stay with you  
In this moment forever, forever and ever


End file.
